VW Chooses Wolfsburg for new SUV Plant

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said Tuesday that its new compact sports utility vehicle, the Golf Marrakesh, would be built at its plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. VW management had threatened to relocate production of the SUV to Portugal where unit costs were much cheaper, if the works' council in Wolfsburg did not agree to new conditions that would effectively entail lower wages and longer working hours. But in negotiations between unions and management on Monday, both sides had agreed on cost-cutting of 850 euros ($1,000) per vehicle so that the Marrakesh could be built in Wolfsburg, thereby securing more than 1,000 jobs at the plant, VW said in a statement. "The way has been hard for everyone. But what's important is that we can build the vehicle at competitive conditions in Germany and export it," said Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the VW brand.