Volkswagen AG has announced it will be establishing a new manufacturing unit located in VW’s home state of Lower Saxony, Germany. To make it happen VW have purchased the land, equipment, and machinery formerly owned by Karmann – the once iconic coachbuilder and convertible roof specialists who manufactured the classic Beetle-based Karmann Ghia coupe. Karmann has been in financial difficulty for a while, filing for bankruptcy protection back in April, and struggling since.
Production of a new vehicle at the plant is scheduled to begin in 2011. In the meantime, 200 new employees will be required to open the plant next year, and VW is estimating more than 1 000 new jobs will be created by 2014. Volkswagen AG has not disclosed which model will be built at the plant but early speculation is that a new Golf cabriolet may be in the works.
