needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message volkswagen group of america inc. type subsidiary of volkswagen ag industry automotive founded englewood cliffs new jersey 1955 headquarters herndon virginia united states number of locations 20 operational facilities in the us area served north america key people hinrich woebcken ceo products automobiles automotive parts services automotive financial services owner volkswagen group divisions volkswagen of america audi of america bentley motors inc. bugatti of america automobili lamborghini america llc vw credit inc. volkswagen credit canada website www.volkswagengroupamerica.com volkswagen group of america inc. sometimes referred to as volkswagen of america abbreviated to vwoa 1 is the north american operational headquarters and subsidiary of the volkswagen group of automobile companies of germany . vwoa is responsible for five marques audi bentley bugatti lamborghini and volkswagen cars . 2 it also controls vw credit inc. or vci volkswagen s financial services and credit operations . 3 the company is headquartered in unincorporated fairfax county virginia near herndon . 4 5 in germany the parent company volkswagen ag is responsible for eight marques of the group from six european countries volkswagen audi bentley bugatti lamborghini porsche seat koda and volkswagen commercial vehicles . as of march 2008 vwoa has 20 operational facilities spanning coast to coast and its primary objective is to offer attractive safe and environmentally sound vehicles which are competitive on an increasingly tough market and which set world standards in their respective classes . 6 on july 16 2008 volkswagen ag announced plans to build its first production facility in the united states 7 since the closure of its westmoreland assembly plant in 1988 . the volkswagen chattanooga assembly plant was inaugurated on may 24 2011 and currently builds the us spec volkswagen passat . 8 contents 1 history 1.1 foundation 1.2 westmoreland and auburn hills 1.3 1990s uncertainties 1.4 2000s 1.5 new headquarters in virginia 1.6 new manufacturing plant 2 current us facilities 3 regional offices 4 brands 4.1 volkswagen 4.1.1 current models 4.1.2 sales 4.1.2.1 monthly 4.1.2.2 yearly 4.1.3 future models 4.2 audi 4.2.1 current models 4.2.2 sales 4.3 bentley 4.3.1 current models 4.4 bugatti 4.5 lamborghini 4.5.1 current models 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit foundation edit formed in october 1955 in englewood cliffs new jersey to standardize dealership service in the united states it grew to 909 volkswagen dealers in the us by 1965 under the leadership of dr. carl hahn . under him and his successor as president of volkswagen of america j. stuart perkins vw s u.s. sales grew to 569 696 cars in 1970 an all time peak when volkswagen captured 7 percent of the u.s. car market and had over a thousand american dealerships . the volkswagen beetle was the company s best seller in the united states by a wide margin . from then on however intense competition from american and japanese automakers caused vw sales in america to fall as much as 87 percent between 1970 and 1992 despite the introduction of new front drive models in 1975 to replace the beetle and its rear engined air cooled stablemates . as a result the number of dealerships in the u.s. was also reduced to 630 by the mid 1990s . as of 2007 there were 596 operating volkswagen dealerships in the country . westmoreland and auburn hills edit vwoa inaugurated the volkswagen westmoreland assembly plant near new stanton pennsylvania in 1978 . this was the first modern venture by a foreign automaker at making cars in the usa . in 1988 the plant was closed . in the early 1980s the manufacturing division and the sales division were merged and volkswagen of america moved to troy michigan as a result settling in auburn hills michigan in 1991 42 38 43.2 n 83 12 55.4 w 42.645333 n 83.215389 w 42.645333 ; 83.215389 vwoa former hq at auburn hills . 1990s uncertainties edit volkswagen of america s sales hit rock bottom in 1993 with fewer than 50 000 cars sold that year and many observers who expected vw to quit the united states . sales began to recover the following year with the introduction of the third generation of the golf and jetta . by the end of the decade thanks to effective advertising and the launch of more competitive new products including the new beetle in 1998 the vw brand was back on firmer ground . volkswagen of america went on to sell 355 648 cars in 2001 its best year since 1973 . 2000s edit in the 2000s sales tapered off somewhat due to competition quality issues and delays in product introductions and vw s u.s. sales for 2005 totaled 224 195 a reduction of about 37 percent from four years earlier . new models for the 2006 and 2007 model years such as the passat rabbit and gti resulted in a sales growth of 4.9 % for 2006 with sales of 235 140 vehicles . profitability still remained an issue though ; volkswagen of america had not turned a profit for its parent company since 2002 . in january 2007 volkswagen of america president adrian hallmark publicly stated citation needed that he planned to get the subsidiary back to profitability in two to three years . he hoped to introduce new models for north america and develop new marketing to encompass the whole brand as well as individual cars . citation needed stefan jacoby soon replaced him and volkswagen of america continued to look at new products to add to its lineup . citation needed in the meantime a new advertising agency crispin porter bogusky helped rejuvenate vw s presence in the u.s. as well . its ads for the fifth generation gti have sparked interest in the brand not seen since the launch of the new beetle and ads for the fifth generation golf rabbit hatchback translated into initial strong sales for that model . due to new air pollution rules promulgated by the united states environmental protection agency usepa the diesel powered vws with tdi pd technology could no longer be produced after december 31 2006 . for the 2009 model year vw introduced a new generation of diesels based on common rail technology . these would meet air pollution standards in all 50 states . the first of these units was made available for sale in august 2008 . vw sold 2050 jetta sedan tdis and 361 jetta sportwagen tdis that first month . citation needed in october 2009 interpublic group s deutsch los angeles the ad agency of renowned ad man donny deutsch won volkswagen s american advertising account fourteen years after deutsch had tried for vw s advertising business against arnold advertising . 9 new headquarters in virginia edit on september 6 2007 volkswagen of america announced it would relocate its north american headquarters to herndon virginia . 10 11 volkswagen sales are particularly strong in the mid atlantic region as well as both coasts . the company indicated that it is important for them to locate in a region where their customer base is strongest . presently the big three dominate the midwest us especially metro detroit where the company was formerly located . volkswagen of america began its move from auburn hills to herndon in april 2008 . the company anticipated that 600 of the 1 400 staff would remain at auburn hills in the call center and technical services positions while 400 jobs would transferred to virginia . about 150 employees in michigan were expected to move to herndon volkswagen of america president and ceo stefan jacoby said . the four hundred remaining jobs were to be cut . the state of virginia among 14 locations that volkswagen of america considered for the move offered volkswagen 6 million in incentives that will be awarded pending volkswagen s fulfillment of employment and other various quotas . citation needed new manufacturing plant edit on july 15 2008 after an intense months long battle between huntsville alabama a site in michigan and chattanooga tennessee the company s supervisory board chose chattanooga as the location for the new plant . 12 this 1 billion investment will be producing about 150 000 cars a year by its slated opening in 2011 playing a major role in the company s strategy to gain more than 6 % of the car market or about 800 000 cars on top of the 230 000 it produced in america in 2007 by 2018 . 7 13 this plant will also become volkswagen group of america s manufacturing headquarters in the usa . 13 the plant was inaugurated on may 24 2011 . 14 15 current us facilities edit as of march 2008 volkswagen group of america has the following 20 operational facilities across the us 6 auburn hills michigan corporate call center & former corporate headquarters herndon virginia new corporate headquarters hillsboro oregon vw credit inc. center belmont california electronics research laboratory erl oxnard california test center california santa monica california design center ontario california parts distribution center san diego port ppc maricopa arizona proving ground golden colorado vw credit inc. and technical center fort worth texas parts distribution center houston texas port ppc and parts distribution center libertyville illinois vw credit inc. center pleasant prairie wisconsin parts distribution center jacksonville florida parts distribution center brunswick georgia port ppc cranbury new jersey parts distribution center allendale new jersey technical center englewood cliffs new jersey product liaison davisville rhode island port ppc chattanooga tennessee volkswagen chattanooga assembly plant woodcliff lake nj northeast region office rosemont il midwest region office irving tx south central region office alpharetta ga southeast region office westlake village ca pacific region office regional offices edit vw canada head office ajax ontario volkswagen finance canada saint laurent qc brands edit volkswagen edit current models edit the following is a list of the models currently available in the american market sedans compacts jetta sedan passat sedan cc beetle coupe golf utility minivan wagon tiguan touareg jetta sportwagen performance convertibles gti gli eos beetle convertible sales edit monthly edit based on the current line of volkswagen models available in the united states the best selling models according to year to date sales are as follows numbers of 2009 rank model name jan 16 feb 17 mar 18 apr 19 may 20 total 1 jetta sedan 5 285 5 199 6 263 4 937 8 992 30 676 2 cc 1 072 1 808 2 351 1 640 1 419 8 290 3 routan 663 503 1 029 2 606 1 390 6 191 4 jetta sportwagen 953 784 1 128 1 084 1 605 5 554 5 tiguan 762 871 1 235 1 206 1 133 5 207 6 passat sedan 940 761 781 861 851 4 194 7 new beetle coupe 573 899 517 1 467 602 4 058 8 rabbit 823 666 698 610 611 3 408 9 eos 369 510 493 597 1 009 2 978 10 gti 542 479 461 475 857 2 814 11 new beetle convertible 221 374 317 379 570 1 861 12 touareg 314 510 236 239 300 1 599 13 passat wagon 192 211 205 182 228 1 018 14 r32 35 85 6 6 1 133 totals 12 744 13 660 15 720 16 289 19 568 77 981 note includes sales of volkswagen gli performance vehicle yearly edit the total number of new vehicle sales year by year in the u.s. market is as follows calendar year total american sales 2000 21 355 479 2001 355 648 2002 22 338 125 2003 302 686 2004 23 256 111 2005 24 224 195 2006 235 140 2007 25 230 572 2008 26 223 128 2009 27 213 454 2010 28 256 830 2011 29 324 402 2012 30 438