LOS ANGELES (AP) — German automaker Volkswagen AG will decide in the next six months whether to build a new U.S. plant, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Stefan Jacoby, Volkswagen of America's chief executive, is considering a number of factors, including location and the skill level of the work force, the spokesman, Steve Keys, said. The relative weakness of the U.S. dollar versus the euro also could make the United States a more attractive location than Germany.
Volkswagen had a plant in Pennsylvania but shut it down in the 1980s.
Jacoby has said he wants Volkswagen to do a better job of developing and marketing cars that will appeal to Americans. Volkswagen AG is the world's fourth largest producer of passenger cars and is Europe's largest automaker, but it accounts for just 2 percent of the U.S. auto market.
Volkswagen's U.S. sales were down 3 percent in the first 10 months of this year, the victim of a weak market. Sales of the automaker's small cars, including the Beetle and Rabbit, were up significantly but were dragged down by flagging sales of the Passat sedan.
