Last Monday, Tennessee Arts Commission Chairwoman Ellen Hays received her new car. So what’s the big deal, we hear some of you ask? Thousands of people do the exact same thing every day.
What makes Ms. Hays case special is the fact that, although she wasn’t the first in the country (this distinction belongs to a man in San Jose, California), she was the first local to receive a new Passat built at VW’s newly constructed US Chattanooga plant.
Ms. Hays is a local, so for the past three years she watched the new VW facilities that were constructed. “I said, ‘That’s my next car’”, she recalled, mainly because she appreciated the fact that VW had chosen her city for its new plant.
And despite at first considering a $19,995 base model, the fact that it was available only with a manual gearbox made her chose the $25,830 SE version.
Since she previously drove an Infiniti, how does she rate her new car compared to the old one? “I’m missing nothing by driving a Volkswagen. It’s fabulous”, she told reporters.
Nelson Bowers, a co-owner of the dealership Hays bought her Passat from, said that she is “getting a lot of car for the money”. He also expects the new Passat to be a sales hit despite the fact that it’s facing strong competition from models like the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata.
Chief executive of VW’s Chattanooga operations, Frank Fischer, said that this day was a milestone: “We’ve come a long way. Everything is running smoothly. Dealerships are anxious to get cars.”
Hays does however have one quibble. She asked to watch her car being assembled but did not get her wish. “Wouldn’t that be cool?” asked Hays.
Story source: TimesFreePress
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