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45 Although Volkswagen of America (VoA) doesn't have quite the traction that Volkswagen AG would undoubtedly like to see it having, especially as the Group as a whole is doing well on a global basis—the world market, according to Marc Trahan, executive vice president, Quality, VoA, was up 4.7% and VW up 6.8% and the U.S. market has been throwing off barrels of red ink—Trahan is confident that changes are aborning that will put the operation in a more-competitive position going forward. For one thing, he notes that they are going to be establishing "a real R&D; center in Chattanooga, TN, where it has an assembly plant, which will "Give us a lot more autonomy for the vehicle requirements in this market." It is being called the "National Research & Develop- ment and Planning Center." The point of this is that they don't have to go back and forth (literally and digitally) to Germany as often to get more-tailored products for the U.S. market. Trahan says that there is a bit of a pause in product introductions—they most recently launched the Golf, but of late, they've simply done a refresh of the Jetta, and will be doing the same for the Passat next year—but their stated objective is to increase the product cadence in the U.S. market. And VW has announced a $900-million invest- ment to produce of a midsize, seven- passenger SUV, which is generally referred to as "CrossBlue," based on the name of the concept vehicle. That vehicle is to will be built in the Chattanooga plant, which will receive approximately $600-million of the total investment. (One interesting point about Volkswagen in North America that he mentions: with the Golf, Jetta, and Beetle produced in Puebla, Mexico—which he says is the highest-volume production facility in North America—and the Passat in Chattanooga, more than 85% of the vehicles it sells in North America are locally produced.) AN EFFECT OF MQB. Overall, VW has made some incremental changes to its offerings, like a refresh on the Jetta and minor tweaks here and there to other models (e.g., new wheels for the CC; more content in the Tiguan), a notable development is the 2015 e-Golf, VW's first electric vehicle (EV) in the U.S. market. The e-Golf, like other seventh-generation Golfs, is built on the MQB—Modular Transfer Matrix—platform. What is interesting about that is the way that the platform is architected: it can readily accommodate gasoline and diesel engines, as well as the electric motor and battery pack for the EV version. And should VW want to come out with a fuel-cell variant, the MQB can accommodate that as well, without sacrificing interior room. t Among the differences between the e-Golf and a non-e-Golf are LED headlights in place of Bi-Xenon, as well as C-shaped LED daylight running lights. The wheels are designed for improved aero. There are grille shutters as well as aero panels beneath the vehicle.