Volkswagen Group Honors Its best Suppliers

Board of Management members present Volkswagen Group Award 2008 on Ibiza

Wolfsburg / Ibiza, 25 May 2008 - The “Volkswagen Group Award 2008” was presented to the Volkswagen Group’s top suppliers on the Spanish island of Ibiza yesterday evening. Prof. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and Francisco J. Garcia Sanz, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft with responsibility for ‘Procurement’, presented a total of 15 international winners with their awards for outstanding achievement.

“With its broad model spectrum, the Volkswagen Group is unique in the automobile industry. Our eight independent brands set a new sales record last year, delivering almost 6.2 million vehicles to customers worldwide. I am therefore proud to report that our Group is on course. This success is in part attributable to cooperation with our global partners and suppliers,” Prof. Martin Winterkorn said as he welcomed 200 invited guests and suppliers’ representatives. “I address our thanks in particular to the representatives of this year’s award winners and their employees all over the world for their dedication and commitment,” Winterkorn continued.

He underlined that success is not primarily measured by a company’s size, but above all by its innovative strength. “When we say that Volkswagen is taking the offensive we first and foremost mean customer-oriented innovations that bring genuine added value and are affordable. We need able and efficient system and innovation partners to bring such new developments to series and to the new growth markets. All our suppliers are therefore called on to profit from the uniqueness of the Volkswagen Group and join us in harnessing this enormous global business potential,” Winterkorn added.

Addressing representatives from a total of 100 Group suppliers invited to the event, Francisco J. Garcia Sanz, Board member responsible for procurement, said: “With our unique brand world we are aiming to reach very diverse customer groups on global sales markets.” He pointed out that the solutions for markets such as China or India were not the same as those for the USA or Western Europe. Low-cost solutions were becoming increasingly important for the growth markets of India and Russia in particular. This called for flexible and “breathing” supplier relations in new markets as well as proximity to Volkswagen Group production facilities.

“Our prime interest is new ideas that can be realized swiftly and economically by all partners,” Garcia Sanz added. This objective thus sets clear criteria for a premium Volkswagen Group supplier. According to Garcia Sanz: “We need competitive suppliers with a worldwide presence. We need partners with high development competence and innovative strength as well as companies with competent project management.” He added it was important to meet the Volkswagen Group’s quality standards and to strive for continuous advances in productivity. Given scare resources and capacities, exceptional performance must also take the form of delivery reliability and a swift response. “And it goes without saying that we expect our suppliers to adopt a positive approach to environmental protection and sustainability,” Garcia Sanz also commented.

Congratulating this year’s award winners, Garcia Sanz said: “It is a particular honor for Volkswagen to cooperate with committed companies and to pay tribute to outstanding achievements with the Volkswagen Group Award. This award for our top suppliers is a visible expression of our successful working partnership.”

The Volkswagen Group Award recognizes the overall entrepreneurial performance of a supplier. The 15 award winners have proved exceptionally successful in meeting the requirements Europe’s leading automaker places on its premium suppliers, who thus assist the Volkswagen Group and its brands in meeting corporate goals as well as contributing to the realization of the growth and globalization strategy.

The 15 winners of the “Volkswagen Group Award 2008” are as follows:

Company
Registered office, Country

Robert Bosch GmbH
Reutlingen, Germany

ZF Friedrichshafen AG
Friedrichshafen, Germany

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co.
Lippstadt, Germany

Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd.
Tokyo, Japan

BASF SE
Ludwigshafen, Germany

TAKATA-PETRI AG
Aschaffenburg, Germany

Gestamp Automócion
Abadino, Spain

Umicore AG & Co. KG
Hanau, Germany

Edscha Bohemia s.r.o.
Kamenice nad Lipou, Czech Republic

DDB Group Germany GmbH
Berlin, Germany

Eugen Wexler GmbH & Co.
Lauf a.d. Pegnitz, Germany

Lydall Inc.
Manchester, CT., USA

Rane Engine Valve Ltd.
Chennai, India

HBPO GmbH
Lippstadt, Germany

FANUC LTD.
Oshino-muro, Japan

Last year, the Volkswagen Group purchased goods and services to the value of some 72 billion euros. The Group cooperates with approximately 26,000 suppliers worldwide.

Source: Volkswagen Group

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