Volkswagen to Assemble VW Trucks in United Arab Emirates

Volkswagen AG announced it will begin assembling heavy trucks in the United Arab Emirates starting in 2006. A VW spokesman said, "The company plans to begin with 1,000 commercial vehicles before expanding production to 3,000. A cooperative contract between the company and the emirate of Abu Dhabi was signed."

The UAE-Volkswagen deal will also promote lease planning and fleet management in the region. "The main purpose of the venture is to set up an automotive zone in Abu Dhabi," sources explained. Volkswagen also stated that its vehicle deliveries in the first 11 months of 2004 rose 1.6%, boosted mostly by the sales of commercial VW vehicles. Deliveries rose to 4.61 million vehicles from 4.54 million in the same period a year ago, said VW officials.