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What Are Car Towers? (aka Autostadt)

Typically, when you purchase a new vehicle in the United States, your salesman hands you the keys at the dealership and you simply drive off the lot. That is far from the case at Volkswagen’s manufacturing facility in Wolfsburg, Germany.

This blog is brought to you by Jerry's Chevrolet Inc, a shop that works on a wide range of vehicles in Leesburg, VA, including Volkswagens.

Volkswagen utilizes a unique car delivery system in that area of the world commonly referred to as the Car Towers. The two silos, made of glass and galvanized steel, are approximately 16 stories high. Think you have a big garage? These towers hold 400 cars each!

The structures are connected to the Volkswagen factory through an underground tunnel and are located in Autostadt (German for Automobile City). Known for its modern architecture, Autostadt also includes a museum, cinema, restaurants, pavilions showcasing the Volkswagen Group’s principal automobile brands and a customer center where new vehicles are distributed.

In Europe, customers commonly order new vehicles to their specifications and then have them manufactured. Those who purchase Volkswagen cars in Germany have the option of having the car delivered to a dealership or Autostadt.

Reportedly, the towers are the “fastest automatic parking system in the world,” according to the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records in the category of “extraordinary elevators.”

At one time, the public was not allowed inside the Car Towers due to safety reasons. Now, Volkswagen invites visitors to sit in a special glass elevator, which moves about three feet per second, and travel up to an observation deck on the 20th floor. When they reach the top, a panoramic view of the city and Autostad await.

Meanwhile, a lift carries their new vehicle to the bottom floor before being transferred to the delivery center where license plates are added. Due to the machinery involved in the process, the odometer still reads zero miles/kilometers when the customer receives the vehicle.

5 facts about the Car Towers

1.      Inside each tower, the lift system moves six and a half feet per second.

2.      A car can be carried from the tower entrance to a parking space on the top of the structure in one minute and 44 seconds.

3.      Typically, the cars stay in the glass silos for about 24 hours.

4.      About 500 vehicles a day are delivered to their new owners.

5.      Since opening in 2000, more than two million vehicle owners have picked up their new Volkswagen from Autostadt.

Sources: BBC, VW News and USA Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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