DRESDEN (dpa) – The stage which German carmaker Volkswagen has chosen to present its flagship Phaeton model is made of glass and steel – and precious Canadian maple. It features the most sophisticated equipment and is also part of the exclusive drama that the group is presenting in Dresden.
The luxury limousine had its world premier at the Geneva Auto Show early March. Now VW is using it to carry through its daring plan to rise into the luxury class. Even the first glimpse into the transparent assembly line makes it clear that little here is in keeping with usual car production.Those who enter the plant via the so-called piazza are submerged in a light-flooded world of excitement that VW created for 187 million euros. Not a single corner of the prestigious plant remains hidden by the 27,500 square metres of glass that surround it.Men in white overalls can be seen carefully assembling shiny cars behind the panes. They work with gloves in an almost clinical atmosphere that radiates peace and quiet. The scent of fresh lemons hang in the air. Neither hanging cables nor tools left carelessly lying around disturb the scene in which cars and parts move as if guided by an invisible hand. No noise escapes from the highly- polished parquet-floored halls. |
Phaeton limousine took five years to develop. The painted bodies for the Phaeton come from the VW plant in Mosel, near Zwickau. |
“We are not offering a traditional, mass-produced vehicle but are staging the creation of the car,” manager Werner Ullrich stresses. The 64-year-old engineer began his career at VW as an apprentice in 1954 and rose to the position of production manager. However, the production phase of the limousine that took five years to develop is limited to the final assembly.
The already-painted bodies for the Phaeton come from the VW plant in Mosel, near Zwickau. They are delivered by special trucks and stored in a giant shelf.All other components – from the smallest screw to the engine to the 63-kilogram coil of cable – arrive in two blue specially- constructed so-called CarGo trams only when they are required. The imposing trams commute along a four-kilometre stretch from the logistics centre in Dresden-Friedrichstadt to the assembly plant at Strassburger Platz.All single parts are transported through the building from the underground level in warehouse baskets that re steered automatically.“These are driverless systems that are guided by means of magnets and sensors in the floor,” foreman Andreas Trinks said in explaining the principle. The vehicles stand on adjustable elevating-tables or are held suspended in the air by grabs.“We have only three robots here; the first seals the spare-wheel carrier, the second screws on the wheels and inserts the spare-wheel, and the third seals the front- and rear windscreens,” Trinks said.VW left nothing to chance in staging its technically state-of-the- art flagship. It takes 105 production phases and 32 hours before the completed limousine leaves the assembly line. After final quality checks and a test-run, the cars are then exhibited in a 40-metre- high glass tower that is visible from afar.Only 20 Phaetons are standing there at present. The car was named for the son of the mythical Greek sun God who died after he was allowed to steer his father’s chariot – he was too weak to control the horses.The new top model costs between 56,200 and almost 100,000 euros. Initially, it will be available with a 60-horsepower, six-cylinder and a 12-cylinder 400 h.p. engine. The electronically-restricted top speed is 250 kilometres an hour.“The car is our masterpiece,” marketing manager Stefan Schulte says. More than 1,000 orders are said to be in hand already, of which just 20 daily are currently being assembled in Dresden; the plant’s full capacity is 150 cars a day. VW is targeting annual sales of 20,000 Phaetons by the year 2004.The company estimates that about 30 per cent of the buyers will pick up their cars in Dresden themselves. They will not only be able to follow the manufacturing process themselves but also to take part in the assembly if they so wish.“Everything else was just the overture. Now the real challenge is beginning because we have to sell the car,” Schulte says.
