CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - With huge dirt movers shaping the site of Volkswagen’s $1 billion assembly plant at Chattanooga, Europe’s largest automaker says it has no regrets about announcing its arrival as an American employer in hard times.

“We have stuck with our goals of growing our sales in the U.S. market,” Volkswagen AG spokeswoman Jill Bratina said. “This plant is critical to that.”