Volkswagen to import vehicles through Baltimore

A facility expected to be finished in 2020 will move about 120,000 vehicles annually through the Tradepoint Atlantic terminal.    Volkswagen Group of America (VWGoA) has agreed to begin importing and distributing factory-new vehicles through the Port of Baltimore at the Tradepoint Atlantic terminal, the privately owned terminal announced Wednesday.
   The agreement — a 20-year build-to-suit lease, according to a Tradepoint spokesperson — calls for Tradepoint Atlantic to build a new auto processing and distribution center for Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini vehicles. VWGoA, in turn, will invest in the facility, which includes rail infrastructure improvements, trucking capacity allowances, a processing and accessory parts warehousing building and a car wash, said Mike Tolbert, senior communications specialist at VWGoA, Thursday via email.
   The 166,000-square-foot facility, which is expected to be finished in early 2020, will be responsible for the importation of about 120,000 vehicles annually from European and Mexican production facilities, with increased volumes expected over time, according to Tradepoint Atlantic.
   “Tradepoint Atlantic is honored to enter into a long-term partnership with Volkswagen Group of America on their largest import terminal in the United States,” said Eric Gilbert, Tradepoint’s chief development officer, in a press release. “They will now be able to leverage the multitude of logistical advantages our site can offer in the roll-on/roll-off space as it joins an inland port that is already the busiest automobile port in the country.”
   The Port of Baltimore transported more than 800,000 vehicles in 2017, which was the most among U.S. ports for the seventh straight year.
   The Port of Davisville, R.I., currently receives the vehicles for mid-Atlantic dealers, but will shift to shipments for the Northeast region. Volkswagen also operates at the ports of Houston, San Diego, Jacksonville, Fla., and Benicia, Calif.
   “This new port in Baltimore will allow us to more efficiently serve our vehicle operations in the mid-Atlantic region, with potential to serve other inland distribution markets,” said Tolbert.
   The agreement also satisfies part of the company’s $33.5 million settlement with the state of Maryland for the German automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, according to The Baltimore Sun. The consent decree, announced in April 2018, required Volkswagen to owe the state $4.5 million more if it did not enter a five-year deal with a public or private auto terminal in Maryland.
   VWGoA’s selection of the Sparrows Point site, which followed a bidding process that began in 2016, was not a requirement of the settlement but resulted in a reduced settlement amount, Tolbert explained.