Volkswagen leaving Detroit in the rust
VW is moving its American headquarters to Virginia. The move by Europe's biggest carmaker is a further blow to Detroit, which has suffered big job losses in the auto industry which once fueled it. Stephen Beard reports.
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Doug Krizner: Europe's biggest carmaker, Volkswagen, is moving its North American headquarters from Michigan to northern Virginia. Here's Marketplace's Stephen Beard:
Stephen Beard: Volkswagen says it's shifting its U.S. headquarters to the East Coast because that's where most of its American customers are.
The company also believes that a young, skilled workforce will find Herndon, in Virginia, a more attractive place to be. Four hundred new jobs will be created, 400 will go in Detroit. About 600 will remain there in a call center.
Volkswagen is anxious to shake up ones of it biggest and most troubled foreign operations. Its U.S. division lost almost $700 million last year, about half its total losses.
The move to Virginia is an undoubted blow to Detroit.
The city clearly has an image problem, says a senior Volkswagen executive: "People are saying everything is its fault. It's a rust belt. And it's not taking CO2 seriously."
From the European Desk, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
