With 51 factories worldwide, Volkswagen is well aware of how much work goes into the three-year process of building each one. And now that work has begun on their new plant here in Chattanooga, VW is taking the opportunity to document the process from beginning to end. A film crew will visit the scenic city once a month and film the progress—and the local VW enthusiast community. The documentary is to be completed and released in 2011 after the opening of the new factory at Enterprise South.

The Scenic City Volks Folks club has been invited to take part in the documentary, and with about 24 hours notice, about 40 Volkswagens old and new showed up in downtown Chattanooga today for the filming. After meeting on Riverfront Drive, we cruised to the First Tennessee Pavilion for a line-up.

Christian Buhlmann, who works in Public Relations for Volkswagen Germany, has made monthly visits to Chattanooga since last October. He joined us at the Pavilion and checked out the variety of VW models on display, ranging from a 1959 oval window beetle to brand new 2009 models, like the Passat CC.

Mr. Buhlmann spoke candidly with us about Volkswagen and their vision for Chattanooga. We asked how they manage to boil down the expected 20,000 applicants down to the 10% who will eventually be employed by Volkswagen. He told us first and foremost, they look for employees who are passionate about VW brands, rather than simply working for a paycheck. For instance, there are 9 marques owned by the Volkswagen Group. Can you name them all?

This kind of passion was shown by Christian himself as he meandered the lot and studied each model closely. He talked with owners about their cars in great detail, discussing specifics about engines, styling, and more. He was particularly interested in models that were US-only and the differences in tuning available here and abroad.

Volkswagen’s film crew will be back next month, just in time for Bug-a-Paluza 11, a large VW show, swap meet, and camp out scheduled for April 17-19 at Camp Jordan. For 10 years, Bug-a-Paluza has grown from a small gathering of VW enthusiasts to one of the biggest Volkswagen shows in the region, showcasing both air-cooled and water-cooled cars. Volkswagen has also agreed to send representatives to visit and take part in a welcoming ceremony on Saturday.

During our visit, we also got a sneak preview of a major Volkswagen announcement that will be made here in Chattanooga on Friday. Volkswagen will be making a large investment in Tennessee universities—not only in Chattanooga, but other cities including Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis. Their goal is to help “revitalize the colleges” and stimulate the Southeast region’s growing automotive industry, which is still quite young compared to other parts of the United States, particularly Michigan. The full details of their philanthropic investment will be revealed in an event at Calvin Donaldson Elementary at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.