CHATTANOOGA, TN - Volkswagen Group of America announced it is creating an additional 800 new jobs at its Tennessee manufacturing facility in order to boost production of the new Passat, which is the only model the plant builds.

“This is a clear sign that the plant ramp-up has been successful and is a validation that the Passat is of the highest quality,” said Frank Fischer, CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen Chattanooga. “Our plant was designed to be flexible in order to respond to market demand and I’m proud that we’ve achieved this so quickly. This is a good day for Volkswagen and for the people of Chattanooga,” Fischer said.

The automaker said these jobs are in addition to 200 jobs added at the plant earlier this year, which will bring the total number hired so far at the plant in 2012 to 1,000. According to VW, these workforce additions will allow the plant to extend its weekly production capacity while reducing the amount of overtime work for existing team members.

The VW plant in Chattanooga employs more than 2,700 people, 2,200 who work for Volkswagen and an additional 500 employed by Aerotek, the automaker’s staffing partner.