Modern miracles.

There must be something to the talk that Portugal has a special place in heaven's gaze. From the giant statue of Jesus that overlooks the bay of Lisbon-reportedly the city, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1755, hasn't suffered even a tremor since it was erected-to his mother Mary's appearance to three shepherd children in 1917 at Fatima, to the continued operation of VW's Autoeuropa assembly plant, miracles seem to abound in the Western-most country of mainland Europe. Autoeuropa is best known as the home for the VW Sharan/Seat Alhambra/Ford Galaxy MPVs for the past 12 years, though Ford pulled out of this joint venture-selling its 50% of the company back to VW in 1999-to go it alone with a home-grown 2007 Galaxy. Producing specialty versions of the MPV (police, ambulance, search and rescue, etc.) wasn't enough to keep the plant running at the same level, and rumors persisted that VW would shift the next generation Sharan/Alhambra to a plant closer to central Europe. And then ...

VW's need for an assembly plant that could integrate the low-volume (40,000 units per year on two shifts) Eos hardtop convertible, and still have room left over for the 2008 Scirocco sports coupe pointed toward Portugal. As did the fact that the plant, once Ford vacated the premises, could be reset to VW standards and more fully integrated into VW production system. With line employees making 33% of what their equals in Wolfsburg are paid, the higher logistic costs (North American versions of the Eos are shipped from Autoeuropa to Germany, then to the U.S.) began to pale. And though no one at VW wants to put their name to the figures, the approximately $20,000 in direct production costs of each Eos coming out of the Autoeuropa plant is lower than it would have been had the car been produced anywhere else on the continent.

"The Scirocco will add to complexity in the body shop," admits Mario Rodrigues, project manager, VW Eos, Autoeuropa, "but the fact that the two cars are built on the same platform means they can share the body line and many of the changes made for the Eos." Fifty-one new die sets were added to stamp 77 unique parts for the Eos, and this number will rise as the Scirocco reaches production. Though the plant is 52% automated, Rodrigues does not see the need to increase the number of Kuka robots beyond the 114 already in place, or expand the paint line. The supplier park directly across the street from the plant also has enough spare capacity to meet expected demand, with the option of a third shift-including at the main plant-to meet spikes in demand. Once the ramp-up for Scirocco is complete, there will be no time to rest. In a move many would have considered miraculous only one year ago, VW has decided to keep production of the next-generation MPV at Autoeuropa. There is even hope that a limited number of the minivans may be exported to North America starting in 2009 to bolster the larger joint 2008 VW/Chrysler minivan.--CAS

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