WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Volkswagen <VOWG.DE>, the world's fourth-largest carmaker, confirmed widespread speculation that it was concentrating its search for a new North American plant in the United States.

"Initially we plan an annual capacity of 100,000-150,000 vehicles," VW production boss Jochem Heizmann said.

Volkswagen said it had hedged its foreign exchange risks to varying degrees into 2012.

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner)