Trump calls Volkswagen expansion in Tennessee a ‘big win’

President Trump is welcoming news that German automaker Volkswagen will expand its operations in Tennessee to produce electric vehicles.

The president called the announcement a “big win” in a tweet Tuesday morning, the day after the company announced its investment. 

Volkswagen will be spending 800 million dollars in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They will be making Electric Cars. Congratulations to Chattanooga and Tennessee on a job well done. A big win!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2019 

Volkswagen said Monday that it plans to expand its Chattanooga, Tennessee, factory with an $800 million investment and the addition of roughly 1,000 jobs in the U.S.

Production on electric vehicles at the factory will begin in 2022.

{mosads}The Chattanooga factory, which opened in 2011, is home to roughly 3,500 workers, the company said. 

“We could not be prouder to build the future of mobility here in the United States,” Scott Keogh, CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America, said in a statement. “We’re known as ‘the people’s car’ for a reason, and we plan to build EVs for millions, not millionaires.”

Volkswagen announced late last year it intends to shift its focus after 2026 to producing electric cars

The Volkswagen investment comes roughly two months after General Motors announced plans to shutter factories in the U.S. and Canada, slashing 15,000 jobs in the process.

In response to those layoffs, Trump threatened to end General Motors’s federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

In an interview last month with Fox News, Trump blamed GM’s struggles on its focus on electric vehicles.

“They’re going to all electric,” he said. “All electric’s not going to work. I don’t run a car company, but all electric is not going to work.”