Volkswagen Replaces Chattanooga Chief Weeks After Failed Union Vote

This is the new guy. Christian Koch comes to Chattanooga from China, where he helped get another VW factory going. Credit: VW

Volkswagen is replacing the head of its plant in Chattanooga. The move comes six weeks after a failed union vote. Frank Fischer is moving back to Germany, according to an announcement from the company.

Fischer oversaw construction of the billion-dollar plant and hiring the first 2,000 employees. In February, those workers voted against unionizing with the United Auto Workers. This would be good news to most companies. But Volkswagen kind of wanted a union to work with, since it has unions in almost every other plant in the world.

Reportedly, Fischer was less enthusiastic about partnering with the UAW.

Volkswagen says only that Fischer is being moved as part of a “global manufacturing restructuring plan.” The company calls him a “true leader.”

Fischer will return to a plant in Emden, Germany – which also builds the Passat. It has more than four times as many employees as the Chattanooga facility.

He will be replaced next month by Christian Koch, who previously got a new plant going in Chengdu, China.