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This Is Where The Volkswagen Atlas Is Made

By: Author Stefan K.

Posted on Last updated:

Categories Crossovers & SUV's

This Is Where The Volkswagen Atlas Is Made

We’ve written extensively about the Volkswagen Atlas and its capabilities on this blog. Today we’re going to look at where this Volkswagen is made. This seems to be a straightforward question, but this car consists of many components (engine, transmission, tires, etc.) made in different parts of the world. Let’s start with a quick answer:

The Volkswagen Atlas for the American market is assembled in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The engines that it uses are made in Győr, Hungary and the 8-speed automatic transmission in the Atlas is made by Aisin in Anjō or Okazaki, Japan. Tires are made by Goodyear, Pirelli, or Continental in the United States.

However, that certainly doesn’t answer the question entirely. Below, we’ll first dive into detail about the assembly location. After, that we’ll give you the complete rundown of where the engines are made, and we’ll do the same for all transmissions used in this vehicle. Finally, we’ll talk about how to identify which tires you have and where they are manufactured precisely. Read on!

Also read: Volkswagen Atlas: Common Problems You Should Know!

What's Inside show

Assembly Locations

The Volkswagen Atlas is sold in two areas in the world: the United States and China. In China, the Volkswagen Atlas is called the Volkswagen Teramont. This name was originally also intended for the North-American market, but dealers rejected it, to which it was then changed to Atlas.

In the United States, the Volkswagen Atlas is assembled at the Chattanooga Assembly Plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This plant is owned by Volkswagen and was officially opened in May 2011. Currently, the plant employs 3,800 employees. From 2022 onwards, production of the I.D. Crozz and I.D. also takes place at the Chattanooga Plant.

In China, the Atlas is assembled in Ningbo, Zhejiang, by SAIC-VW. SAIC is the company that owns the rights to sell Volkswagen cars in the Chinese market. Many productions facilities of VW are co-owned by SAIC.

1) Chattanooga, Tennessee 2) Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

Engines

Volkswagen has used several different engines in the Volkswagen Atlas/Teramont. These engines are as follows:

  • 2.0 L EA888 DCGA TSI I4
  • 2.0 L EA888 DPL TSI I4
  • 2.0 L EA888 DKX TSI I4
  • 2.5 L EA390 DPK VR6
  • 3.6 L EA390 CDVC VR6

However, the question is where these engines are made. It’s good to know that Volkswagen makes none of its engines in the United States. Instead, the production of Volkswagen engines is almost wholly outsourced to AUDI (a sister company owned by Volkswagen). Audi both develops and manufactures Volkswagen engines.

Production of Volkswagen Atlas engines, therefore, happens in the largest engine plant in Győr, Hungary. AUDI manufacturers around 2,000,000 engines per year at this plant for both Volkswagen and Audi.

Production for the Chinese engines is a little different. Especially the EA888 engines are manufactured in China by FAW-Volkswagen This happens in Changchun, China.

Also read: Types Of Gas A Volkswagen Atlas Takes (Explained)

1) Gyor, Hungary 2) Changchun, China

Transmissions

For both the US and Chinese markets, Volkswagen has made use of different transmissions. For the North American market, Volkswagen has always equipped an 8-speed AWF8F35 automatic made by the Japanese transmission manufacturer Aisin. Specifically, this transmission is made by Aisin AW, which has manufacturing locations in Anjō and Okazaki, Japan. It’s, therefore, the most likely that this is where the American 8-speed automatic transmission comes from.

For the Chinese market, a 7-speed DSG transmission is used. Volkswagen has four manufacturing locations for transmissions in China, and we do know that the transmission is made in this part of the world. There are four options: Changchun, Shanghai, Dalian, or Tianjin, but it’s unclear which location is responsible for the transmission of this particular car.

1) Anjo, Japan 2) Okazaki, Japan 3) Dalian, China 4) Shanghai, China 5) Changhun, China 6) Tianjin, China

Tires

Then, it’s time to dive into which tires the Volkswagen Atlas has. The factory Volkswagen Atlas in the United States is equipped with one of the following tires: Goodyear Assurance Finesse, Pirelli Scorpion Zero All-Season, or Continental Cross Contact LX Sport.

Continental is a German tire manufacturer. However, they have several manufacturing plants in the United States where tires for the Atlas are made. These locations are located in:

  • Vernon, Illinois
  • Bryan, Ohio
  • Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Mayfield, Kentucky
  • South Sumter, Carolina

Goodyear manufactures tires in:

  • Lawton, Oklahoma.
  • Akron, Ohio.
  • Danville, Virginia.
  • Gadsden, Alabama.
  • Topeka, Kansas.
  • Union City, Tennessee.
  • Fayetteville, North Carolina.
  • Freeport, Illinois.
  • Tyler, Texas.

Pirelli has three locations:

  • Hanford, California.
  • Madison, Tennessee.
  • Rome, Georgia.

Suppose you want to know exactly where the tires of your Volkswagen Atlas are made, then you can look up the DOT code on the side of your tires. This code is not that large, so you’ll have to take a moment to find it. It’s an extended code of letters and numbers that starts with the letters ‘DOT’. DOT stands for Department Of Transportation.

After the DOT letters, you’ll find a combination of three letters, numbers, or a mix. You can search on the internet for the specific three number/letter combination you have to find the exact manufacturer and location where the tires are made. For example, ‘1M3’. In this case, 1M3 indicates Michelin makes the tire in Greenville, South Carolina.

Is The Volkswagen Atlas American-Made?

The Volkswagen Atlas is partially American-made since assembly for the car happens in Chattanooga, Tennessee. However, the engines for the Atlas are made in Győr, Hungary, and the 8-speed automatic transmission in the Atlas is made by Aisin in Anjō or Okazaki, Japan. Furthermore, the Atlas for the Chinese market is mainly produced in China.

Sources

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