VW would get warm welcome in Limestone

If Volkswagen builds an assembly plant in the United States…

That’s apparently the first hurdle in getting the German automaker to decide on Limestone County’s 2,010-acre megasite.

Some analysts think Volkswagen Group of America may have already made the decision and plans to build in the state. Let’s hope so because the TVA site on Interstate 65 appears to be surfacing as a likely place for the plant that will eventually assemble 250,000 vehicles a year.

I-65 runs from Mobile Bay into the heart of the Midwest. Along the way it connects to other interstates that feed into some of the nation’s largest markets and the ports on the Great Lakes.

Volkswagen officials, of course, know the advantages of being on I-65 and they know about the Limestone site being ready for development. Volkswagen officials also know of the hard times that befell Wolverine Tube and Delphi Saginaw Division and know that hundreds of skilled workers are looking for employment. They know of the state’s eagerness to train its workers, too.

VW officials, too, know the advantages of each site supposed on a short list of candidates.

Like another German automobile maker, Mercedes-Benz that has a successful plant in Tuscaloosa, VW is a quality company that’s been around for most of seven decades. It is the world’s fourth largest automobile manufacturer.

We can’t say that Volkswagen is coming to our region of the Tennessee Valley, but we can say that we sure hope it locates at the Limestone site.

The welcome mat is out.