Friday, July 22, 2005

VW to be official automobile partner for World Youth Day

Text from Volkswagen AG.
Volkswagen, Audi and Europcar are official automobile partner of XX World Youth Day in Cologne

Wolfsburg / Köln, 22 July 2005 - The organizers of the XX World Youth Day in Cologne from 16 – 21 August 2005 are expecting some 800,000 young people from 160 countries for the first official journey of Pope Benedict XVI. Under the motto “We Have Come to Worship Him” taken from St. Matthew’s Gospel, young people of all confessions will have the opportunity to, pray, sing, discuss and celebrate at over 500 events. The highlight is the Concluding Mass with Pope Benedict XVI on the Marienfeld to the west of Cologne on 21 August 2005. As the official automobile partner, the Volkswagen Group represented by Audi, Europcar and Volkswagen supports the XX World Youth Day with a broad selection from its product range.

100 Volkswagen Group vehicles, including the Audi A3 Sportback, Audi A8, Golf Variant, Golf Plus, Phaeton and Touran models, will be deployed round the clock to guarantee optimum mobility for the organizers and guests from all over the world.

“As a global company, we are delighted that the young people of the world are making their way to Cologne in August. By supporting the XX World Youth Day as a forum for exchange, Volkswagen AG is accepting a social responsibility for the young people of this world who will shape our future,” said Dr. Josef-Fidelis Senn, Volkswagen Group Representative for Church Affairs. “It is a wonderful commitment on the part of Volkswagen to help ensure the safety of the Papal retinue when Pope Benedict XVI travels to Germany. Volkswagen is truly getting things moving,” said Hermann-Josef Johanns, managing Director of the XX World Youth Day.

Preliminary information:
Dr. Josef-Fidelis Senn will be presenting the first vehicles to the Managing Director of the World Youth Day, Herrmann-Josef Johanns, and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Norbert Feldhoff, on Friday, 29 July 2005. The presentation will take place at 1 p.m. in the Hotel Hyatt Regency Cologne, Kennedy Ufer 2a.