Volkswagen builds 15 millionth Passat

Emden, GERMANY – Today, the 15 millionth Passat produced throughout the world rolled off the assembly line at Volkswagen’s Emden plant. Official DKMS ambassador Sybille Beckenbauer accepted the vehicle as a donation from Prof. Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Pavel Vacek, plant manager at Emden and Peter Jacobs, Chairman of the Works Council of Emden plant.

The anniversary vehicle is a Passat Variant BlueMotion 1.9 TDI in arctic blue silver metallic with 77 kW (105 HP). The Passat is one of the most successful Volkswagen models throughout the world and also one of the most popular midsized models in Germany.

“Fifteen million Passats produced in 34 years are a fantastic achievement which everyone at the Emden plant can take pride in together with all the other members of the Passat family at plants throughout the world,” Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann stressed.

Plant manager Pavel Vacek added: “This round figure has a very special significance for our plant. Of the 15 million Passats produced in total, 5.9 million were made in Emden. This indicates the tremendous importance of the model as a symbol for our plant and our region."

Works Council Chairman Peter Jacobs commented: “13 plants around the globe have been involved in the Passat success story since 1973 and the model has provided work, security and income for people throughout the world. The Passat has become a flagship of the Volkswagen brand. At Emden, we are proud of the Passat and we share this success with our colleagues at plants around the world.

On the presentation of the vehicle in Emden, Sybille Beckenbauer said: “I am very pleased that Volkswagen has actively supported the charitable work of the German Bone Marrow Donor Center (DKMS) for many years. By presenting the 15 millionth Passat, Volkswagen has provided the DKMS with even more mobility, flexibility and safety. This is important for the large number of tissue typing campaigns organized by the Center for leukemia sufferers throughout Germany. Potential stem cell donors are included in the world’s largest donor database.”

The popularity of the Passat with Volkswagen customers throughout the world is underlined by the accolades received by the leading mid-sized model from specialists, journalists and customers over the past few months. In particular, the Passat BlueMotion has been awarded the coveted “Auto Environment Certificate” by the ÖKO-TREND institute; the Passat is therefore one of the most environmentally compatible automobiles of 2007.

Stanford Univerity/VWs "Junior" finishes the DARPA Challenge in 2nd place

Fresh news about VW and Standford University's placing in this year's DARPA Challenge. While Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University finished with their Chevy Tahoe "Boss" in first place to claim the $2 million dollar prize. Stanford still receives $1 million dollars for their respectable 2nd place finish. VW will also get some mileage out of the victory through advertisements and auto show tours with "Junior". Congrats to Standford and Volkswagen.

Official Press Release.

VICTORVILLE, Calif. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. has announced that the Stanford Racing Team’s clean diesel Passat wagon TDI, “Junior”, has scored a second place victory at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge. “Junior” was one of only six vehicles to complete this challenging urban course.

“The DARPA Challenge is a tough competition and the team has pulled together a vehicle and autonomous driving system that handled the best that the course could offer,” said Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, executive director, Electronics Research Laboratory, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “Junior” was able to skillfully and safely negotiate the three missions in this extremely challenging urban environment, and we are very pleased with our results.”

“Stanley,” a Touareg TDI, was the ideal vehicle to contest and win the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, the ultimate off-road autonomous driving challenge. This years clean diesel Passat Wagon TDI, “Junior”, was the perfect urban vehicle and Urban Challenge contender; with plenty of room for a family or for the brains and brawn of an autonomously driven vehicle.

Team “Junior” was lead by Stanford with assistance from team partners Volkswagen of America, Red Bull, Intel, Google, MDV (Mohr Davidow Ventures), NXP and ApplAnix. University

The DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous driving challenge where vehicles traverse an urban environment for 60 miles – merging with moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and busy intersections, avoiding obstacles and finding parking spots. 167 teams entered DARPA’s initial "Site Visit" in early 2007, 35 were chosen to advance to the National Qualifying Event. Only six vehicles of the final 11 vehicles that advanced to the final round of the DARPA Urban Challenge completed this year’s competition.

Source: VW

VW & Standford University successful in 2007 DARPA Challenge

The future is upon us. Eventually in time it will not be uncommon to see a car that can fully drive by itself. VW has shown this several times with the GTI53 project, named after Herbie the Love Bug, but by also teaming up with Stanford University for the government's DARPA Challenge, preparing robotic cars and competing with various other universities and companies. VW and Stanford teamed up to build Stanley the Touareg for the 2005 desert challenge. For 2007 the DARPA Challenge was set up as an urban challenge to take place on city streets. Stanford chose a brand new VW Passat wagon as their basis for the robotic car for 2007. The wagon was named Junior, I assumed because of the Passat's smaller size to the Touareg. Out of 167 teams to enter, "Junior" was selected as one of 35 entries to advance to the national qualifying event held October 26th-31st. We look forward to hearing more exciting news on the 2007 DARPA Challenge as it becomes available.

Full Press Release:

VICTORVILLE, Calif. – Volkswagen of America, Inc. has announced that Stanford Racing Team’s autonomous Passat wagon, “Junior”, has successfully finished the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge.

“We could not be more pleased with our finish in this tough competition,” said Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, executive director, Electronics Research Laboratory, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “Junior performed exceptionally and has helped provide Volkswagen with valuable information as we continue to work on advancing passenger safety technologies and help to bring these technologies to future drivers.

“This research is an important step for Volkswagen Research towards the next generation of vehicle electronics, and vehicle safety features that will ultimately benefit our customers,” Huhnke continued.

“Junior” is one of only 11 vehicles that advanced to the final round of the DARPA Urban Challenge, an autonomous driving challenge where vehicles traverse an urban environment for 60 miles – merging with moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and busy intersections, avoiding obstacles and finding parking spots. Out of 167 teams who participated in the DARPA "Site Visit" in June and July 2007, 35 were chosen to advance to the National Qualifying Event, held October 26-31.

“The last decade has seen the acceptance of numerous electronic systems that improve the driver’s ability to handle dynamic driving situations, increase comfort during longer drives or assist parking maneuvers,” said Huhnke. “All of these systems are designed primarily to make the task of driving safer, easier and more enjoyable and also safer.”

“Pushing the concept of driver assistance to its limit, a car will someday be able to drive autonomously, either temporarily or for the full extent of the drive,” said Dr. Sebastian Thrun, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, Stanford University. “Junior has been an excellent means to test the many aspects of autonomous driving technology; these can be used for immediate applications in more “conventional” driver assistance and safety systems.”

“Junior” – a Passat wagon modified by the Volkswagen Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto, Calif. in cooperation with Stanford University has been made possible through the team sponsors, Red Bull, Intel, Google, MDV (Mohr Davidow Ventures), NXP and ApplAnix. Volkswagen and Stanford successfully partnered to win the DARPA Grand Challenge in October 2005 with "Stanley", a Volkswagen Touareg TDI.

Source: Volkswagen