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Welcome to The VWLounge Weekly Edition 1, a new weekly news thread that will include most of the official latest VW News in the past week.

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60th anniversary: Works agreement of May 10, 1947 anchored co-determination as a key element of Volkswagen corporate culture


Wolfsburg, 10 May 2007 - 60 years ago today, the company agreement negotiated between the works management and the works council guaranteed the elected employee representatives an unrestricted right to a say in personnel and welfare issues and a right of participation in production planning and the introduction of new working methods.

The agreement marked a further step in the efforts of Volkswagenwerk GmbH to overcome everyday difficulties immediately following the war and become the most successful German automaker post-1945.

The foundations were laid by the pragmatism of the British military government which held the trusteeship of the ownerless company at the end of the Second World War.

British officers placed vital orders with the Wolfsburg and Brunswick plants, giving people in the region work, housing and food.

Series production of the Volkswagen limousine, the young company’s "life insurance" as it were, began on December 27, 1945.
Based on the British understanding of democracy, Major Ivan Hirst, the representative of the British military government at the plant, agreed to the election of a works council, which assembled for the first time in November 1945, putting in place the first structures for co-determination.

The ensuing intensive debate on the scope of participation to be granted to the workforce culminated in the Allied Works Council Law of April 10, 1946, which provided the formal framework.

At Volkswagenwerk GmbH, this Law was implemented in the form of a company agreement on May 10, 1947.
From now on, plant management decisions on hiring and firing, transfers and promotions, as well as wage and salary provisions for all employees would be taken "in agreement with the works council".
The company agreement made provision for a right of say on the part of the works council in respect of "resuming operations, determining the production program and creating new work methods", while "expanding, curtailing or closing operations and the cessation of present or the commencement of new areas of production" required the express agreement of the works council.

In the immediate post-war years, however, shortages dictated the content of this culture of participation. In particular, the imbalance between an increased production program and inadequate food supplies provided considerable potential for conflict. In the light of this situation, the provisions governing the right of employee representatives concerning food distribution and supervising the works canteen set out in the works agreement were crucial to preserving industrial peace at the plant.
The cooperative conflict management typical of Volkswagen began to evolve during the years of British trusteeship.

The co-determination anchored in the agreement of May 10, 1947 guaranteeing representation of the interests of the workforce was a significant factor in the rise of the Volkswagenwerk to become a symbol of the German economic miracle.

"The British military government thus laid the foundation for what still remains exemplary co-determination at Volkswagen, maintained and developed further by the works council and management over the decades. This culture of participation has led to corporate success and the internationalization of the company as well as safeguarding jobs," Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the Group and General Works Councils of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, commented.

The company and the works council agree that co-determination is an important instrument of entrepreneurial action.

One of the most recent company agreements between the Board of Management and the employee representatives at Volkswagen confirms the future viability of co-determination, specifically stating that competitiveness and safeguarding jobs are two corporate goals of equal ranking at Volkswagen.


Board of Management and Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG publish Statements concerning the Mandatory Offer of Porsche


Wolfsburg, 11 May 2007 - The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft have independently of each other prepared and today published their Statements pursuant to § 27 of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz) concerning the public Mandatory Offer made by Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft.

Both corporate bodies have independently of each other reviewed the Mandatory Offer, in particular the consideration offered for the Volkswagen Ordinary and Preference Shares.
The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board have each reached a unanimous decision. During the decision making of the Supervisory Board, Supervisory Board members Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Piëch, Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking and Holger P. Härter abstained from voting. The Statements of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board contain, inter alia, the following comments:

On the basis of and in consideration of various financial analyses, the Board of Management have convinced themselves that the fundamental value of Volkswagen Shares exceeds the Offer Price for the Volkswagen Ordinary and Preference Shares. With regard to this valuation and the fact that the stock exchange prices for Volkswagen Shares are currently higher than the Offer Prices, the Board of Management cannot recommend the acceptance of the Mandatory Offer.

On the basis of the financial analyses available to the Supervisory Board and the current stock exchange prices of Volkswagen Shares the Supervisory Board concurs with the Management Board's assessment and also comes to the conclusion that it cannot recommend the acceptance of the Mandatory Offer.

Irrespective of this fact, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board point out that each and every Volkswagen Shareholder will have to make their own decision as to whether and by how many Volkswagen Shares they accept the Offer made by Porsche taking into account the overall situation, their own individual circumstances and personal assessment of the potential of the future development of the company, its intrinsic value and the stock exchange price of the Volkswagen Shares.


By making reference to the statutory minimum price Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft offers to pay Volkswagen Shareholders EUR 100.92 per Ordinary Share and EUR 65.54 per Preference Share. The Acceptance Period of the Mandatory Offer commenced on 30 April 2007 and will expire on 29 May 2007.

The complete Statements of the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft concerning the Mandatory Offer made by Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft are published on the website of Volkswagen at
http://www.volkswagenag.com/Statement_on_Porsche_Offer.
The Statements are available in English and German.


The Volkswagen Sound Foundation presents Royseven and ToaStar in Wolfsburg


International Summer Stage Festival 2007 with Rock and Reggae


Wolfsburg, 14 May 2007 - The Irish band Royseven will be headlining this year’s International Summer Stage Festival in Wolfsburg (June 2 - 23, 2007). Working in association with Wolfsburg's Office for Culture, the Volkswagen Sound Foundation will be hosting the concert in the inner courtyard of Wolfsburg Castle; it will be the closing event of the 16. International Summer Stage Festival.


Anyone who was lucky enough to experience Royseven live with Reamonn at the second Volkswagen Sound Foundation Club Gig in Heidelberg on March 19, 2007 knows that these guys really know how to rock!! Their sound mixes beautiful melodies with dark, epic undertones and has won them a steadily growing fan base. The eagerly anticipated debut album "The Art of Insincerity" has been available since the end of April, and the six guys from Ireland can’t wait to perform their songs to the crowd in Wolfsburg: "Performing in Wolfsburg is going to be very special, we are such an energetic live band and I think it’s going to be an amazing night for all who attend!"

To get the evening going, another Volkswagen Sound Foundation band, ToaStar from Hamburg, will be transforming the stage into a nightclub. Their musical mix of Reggae, Dancehall, Hip-Hop and Drum’n’Bass is guaranteed to get the crowd into the spirit for a wild party.

The concert is taking place at 8pm on June 23, 2007. Tickets are available from usual ticket outlets as well as from the Votex Shop at Gate 17 (Tor 17) in the Volkswagen factory.

The International Summer Stage Festival, Wolfsburg’s traditional open air festival, has been inviting artists from all over the world to perform in the atmospheric inner courtyard at the Weser Renaissance style castle since 1991. The Volkswagen Sound Foundation has been dedicating itself to the promotion of up-and-coming bands and artists, and has been helping young talent to get an early boost for their careers since 1997.

More information about the bands can be found at www.royseven.com, www.toastar.de and www.soundfoundation.de.


Awards for the best suppliers of the Volkswagen Group


Volkswagen Group Awards 2007 presented in Majorca


Wolfsburg, 16 May 2007 - The 25 best suppliers of the Volkswagen Group were presented with the “Volkswagen Group Award” in Majorca yesterday evening. The winners received their awards from Professor Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, and Francisco J. Garcia Sanz, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG with responsibility for “Procurement”.

"Last year, the Volkswagen Group delivered more vehicles to all major markets worldwide than ever before. This success reflects the efforts we jointly made with our partners last year," said Dr. Winterkorn, welcoming 250 invited guests. "Our thanks go to all representatives of our award winners present here this evening, and in particular to all employees at sites around the world for their extraordinary dedication," Winterkorn added.

At the same time, he announced the further expansion of successful cooperation in future: "Shoulder to shoulder with our partners, we will bring Volkswagen even further forward as regards content and technology. We will take our orientation from the highest quality benchmarks, excellent products and, above all, from the wishes of our customers," Winterkorn said.

"For us, cooperation based on partnership means developing solutions together with our partners and giving special support to those suppliers who show a strong commitment," Francisco J. Garcia Sanz, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, stressed in the presence of representatives from the award winning suppliers. He emphasized that companies bringing concrete solutions to support Volkswagen in its efforts to enhance competitiveness could simultaneously further strengthen, or even expand, their position as a business partner for Volkswagen.

Since October 2005, Volkswagen has been developing new approaches to optimize costs and improve quality in cooperation with suppliers. Millions have so far been saved through joint optimization efforts at so-called "suppliers conventions".
At the beginning of 2006, Volkswagen invited suppliers to a "Suppliers Quality Forum" aimed at achieving a sustained reduction in production process failures. The objective of the "Innovation Forum" is to jointly integrate forward-looking fields of innovation in the production process at Volkswagen.

The Group Award is presented in five categories which play a crucial role in relations with suppliers: excellence in development, product quality, logistics, environmental awareness and entrepreneurial performance.

The excellence in development category reflects attributes such as innovative capabilities, technical equipment and the quality of cooperation. Product quality includes an assessment of production site quality performance with regard to series-production supplies. In the logistics category, criteria focus on compliance with delivery deadlines and quantities, delivery flexibility and communication behaviour.

The award for environmental awareness is based on compliance with the Volkswagen criteria for sustainable environmental management and vehicle-related environmental innovation competence. Exceptional entrepreneurial performance is measured by flexibility with respect to series start-ups and innovation capabilities in terms of cost optimization and process improvements.

The 25 winners of the "Volkswagen Group Award 2007" and their winning sites are listed below:

1st category: Excellence in development

Visteon Deutschland GmbH, Berlin / D
Georg Fischer AG, Mettmann / D
DENSO AUTOMOTIVE Deutschland GmbH, Eching / D
Cadence Innovation k.s., Liberec / Czech Republic
ETO Magnetic KG, Stockach / D

2nd category: Logistics

Aisin AW Co. Ltd., Okazaki / Japan
MB Abrera, Barcelona / Spain
Aksys Insonit S.A., Barcelona / Spain
SAINT-GOBAIN SEKURIT INTERNATIONAL, Hořovice / Czech Republic
Robert Bosch Elektronik GmbH, Salzgitter / D

3rd category: Product quality

Grupo Antolin Navarra S.A., Arazur / Spain
Car Trim GmbH, Plauen / D
Ronal Ibérica, S.A.U., Teruel / Spain
GKN Driveline Trier GmbH, Trier / D
Barum Continental spol. s.r.o., Otrokovice / Czech Republic

4th category: Environmental awareness

MS Design Auto Tuning GmbH, Roppen / D

5th category: Entrepreneurial performance

Fredenhagen GmbH & Co. KG, Offenbach / D
Werkzeugbau Fahrzeuge Marke Volkswagen Pkw, Wolfsburg / D
Grob-Werke GmbH & Co. KG, Mindelheim / D
BP/Castrol, Hamburg / D
POSCO, Kwangyang / South Korea
Veritas AG, Donakilitti / Hungary
Maflow S.p.A., Tychy / Poland
AUTOLIV B.V. & Co. KG, Braunschweig / D
Suzhou Sonavox Electronics Co. Ltd., Ayuanhe Township / China


Change in the head of management at Volkswagen Group Italia


Wolfsburg, 16 May 2007 - Dr. Giuseppe Tartaglione (55) has been appointed President of Volkswagen Group Italia registered in Verona with effect from May 15, 2007. He was formerly Vice President for Sales and Marketing at SEAT. He succeeds Ralf Limbach (44), who leaves the Group by mutual arrangement. In the two years under Limbach, the market share and vehicle sales of the Volkswagen Group in Italy developed very successfully.

With Tartaglione, an Italian once again takes over the management of Volkswagen Group Italia, which is a subsidiary of Audi AG. Tartaglione holds a PhD in law and was a board member at various companies in the automotive industry, such as Magneti Marelli and Fiat Powertrain Technologies, before moving to SEAT in January 2006.


Volkswagen models voted “Company Cars of the Year”


Six gold awards for Volkswagen Group brands


Wolfsburg, 16 May 2007 - With six first places, the Volkswagen Group was the most successful company in “Company Cars of the Year 2007”, an event organized by the specialist journal “Firmenauto” and DEKRA, the German motor vehicle inspection association. The best fleet models in a total of nine categories were honored in an overall ranking and an importers ranking. The Volkswagen Group with its Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands not only won six gold awards, but was also ranked second four times and took four third places.

In the run-up to the award ceremony in Bad Gögging, 150 fleet managers tested 70 different models over a two-day period. This involved more than 1,900 test drives over some 50,000 kilometers. In the compact class, the testers voted the new Golf Variant the winner, while the Touran Eco Fuel took first place in the alternative powertrain category. The Audi Q7 and A8 models convinced the jury in the SUV and top class categories respectively. Skoda won the testers’ vote in the small car category and the van category with the Fabia and the Roomster. The Skoda Fabia even took first place in both the overall ranking and the importers ranking.

"Apart from drive behavior and comfort, efficiency played an important role in the judging. With this achievement, the Volkswagen brands have impressively confirmed the outstanding position of our models in the fleet business," Dr. Stefan Brungs, Head Volkswagen Group Fleet International, commented.


Volkswagen AG - Volkswagen Group Fleet International
The Volkswagen Group offers a unique spectrum of products and services in the fields of key account and fleet management. Together, the brands Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles offer vehicles in all classes from subcompact to luxury class and transporters. At the same time, Volkswagen Leasing can offer all the financial services relevant to fleet customers from insurance and full-service leasing to complete fleet management.

Week 2 has been quiet so combined with Week 1

Dr. Mull appointed Vice-President Finance at Volkswagen Group China

Beijing, 25 May 2007 - Dr. Jörg Mull (41), will take over as Vice-President Finance at Volkswagen Group China with effect from September 1. He succeeds Axel Strotbek who, as already announced, moves to Audi AG in Ingolstadt to become Board Member for Finance and Organisation.


Dr. Jörg Mull lived and worked in Singapore and Tokyo from 1996 to 2002. The economist, who also holds a PhD, then moved to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft in Wolfsburg, where he was responsible for the pricing of product projects. He has been Head of Development Controlling at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft since May 2006. In this function, he holds responsibility for the financial steering of Technical Development at Volkswagen.


"Dr. Mull’s experience, particularly in the fields of controlling and the product development process, combined with his knowledge of Asia, will help make further headway with Volkswagen business in China and strengthen the company’s position as the most successful passenger car manufacturer in the country," Dr. Winfried Vahland, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, commented.

VOLKSWAGEN BRAND NAMES JOHN BAILEY & ASSOCIATES AS PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today the appointment of John Bailey & Associates, Inc. as their product and technology public relations agency of record. In this role, the firm will support national and regional media relations initiatives for the Volkswagen brand in the U.S. market.

”It’s time to focus media outreach in support of launching new vehicles and technology over the next 18 months,” said Steve Keyes, Volkswagen brand communications director. “John Bailey and Associates has a successful track record with competitive domestic and import automotive brands and has a demonstrated ability to translate a brand’s business goals and objectives into creative public relations strategies and programs.”

“Volkswagen is a legendary brand with an extraordinary line up of new safe, sporty, and efficient vehicles. We look forward to working with Volkswagen to create deep and relevant brand connections within key automotive consumer and trade media segments by leveraging the introduction of new vehicles, and Clean Diesel technologies into this dynamic marketplace,” said John Bailey, president and CEO of the agency. “But what is personally thrilling for us is the opportunity to work with an import brand that has become part of the mosaic that is American popular culture.”

John Bailey & Associates, Inc.
John Bailey & Associates Inc., Public Relations is a Michigan-based public relations agency that supports a diverse mix of local, national and international companies in the automotive, telecommunications, retail, technology, health care and professional service industries. JB&A provides a variety of services including strategic planning, media relations, public affairs; media interview training, crisis communications, reputation management and event planning. For more information, visit www.baileypr.com.

VOLKSWAGEN GTI CONFIGURATOR ACQUIRES THREE PRESTIGIOUS CLIO AWARDS

- IQ Interactive agency behind the development of Volkswagen GTI configurator campaign took home three silver awards


AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today that the Volkswagen GTI Features campaign (http://www.vwfeatures.com/gti.html) won three silver Clio Awards in “Brand Building,” “Consumer & Targeted Audience” and “Integrated Campaign.” IQ Interactive, a full service communications agency creating ground-breaking rich media and interactive brand experiences was the agency behind the development of Crispin Porter + Bogusky's GTI Configurator. The annual Clio award acknowledges businesses and organizations for generating creative excellence in advertising and design in a number of areas including: Innovative Media, TV, Radio, Integrated Campaign, Design, Content & Contact, Print, Internet and Student work.


IQ Interactive built the GTI Configurator site that lets visitors build their own 3-D Volkswagen GTI from a list of features, components and technical specifications. After their vehicle is loaded with a bag full of goodies, users are allowed to take a "joyride" with “Helga” on the passenger side to test out their driving and engineering skills.


"VW wanted to take the idea of a car Configurator to the next level," said IQ founder and CEO, Tony Quin. "This was a very challenging project that took a lot of creativity and technical prowess to develop. We are thrilled that our hard work helped earn three Clios from the world's most recognized international advertising awards competition.”

About IQ Interactive
IQ Interactive is an Atlanta-based, award-winning, full service interactive agency specializing in rich media brand experiences for the broadband Internet. IQ works with leading brands such as UPS, IBM, Wachovia, Royal Caribbean International, and the American Cancer Society to create innovative and engaging interactive experiences that drive measurable results. Building on its heritage as an award-winning television and technology agency, IQ has become one of the leading creative pioneers on the Web today. The IQ Interactive portfolio is available at IQ

Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s
Based in Miami and Boulder, Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s client list includes
Burger King, Volkswagen, Nike, Coke Zero, Sprite, Haggar, Ask.com, Geek
Squad and the ‘truth’ anti-tobacco campaign. The agency is best known for
both their non-traditional approach to strategic branding and their creative
firepower. CP+B and its work has been profiled in The New York Times, The
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Businessweek, Forbes, Fast Company, Time,
Newsweek, Advertising Age, Creativity and Archive as well as on national and
international television and radio. CP+B is one of the world’s most awarded
agencies, and the only agency to win the Grand Prix in every category at
Cannes.