Environment

Our customers expect us to offer safe, reliable, economical, high-quality vehicles at an affordable price. As personal mobility provider, we aim to do just that, competing successfully in the marketplace with our high-tech products and providing ever-increasing numbers of people with access to personal mobility. Amid all this, we also face the challenge of environmental responsibility – that is to say of limiting the impact of our operations on the environ-ment. Environmental responsibility is one of Volkswagen's core Group Values.

Already a leader in the field of low-consumption, low-emission powertrains, in the long-term we aim to offer carbon-neutral mobility. On the production side too, we are continuously improving our processes, in order to maximise their sustainability and environmental acceptability. Our integrated environmental management process looks at all environment-related aspects in the life cycle of our vehicles, from development and production through to their service life and eventual disposal, tying our employees, our suppliers and our sales partners into a programme of ongoing improvement.

Our commitment to environmental responsibility also includes developing production capabilities for innovative fuels, with particular emphasis on the commercialisation of second-generation biofuels capable of being distributed via the existing infrastructure and used in vehicles currently on the market today. Another important technological focus is the reduction of pollutant emissions. Integrated powertrain and filter systems we are now bringing onto the market will help to drastically reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile hydrocarbons. On traffic noise we have already made great strides, although as detailed acoustic measurements show, there is still potential for further improvements in many areas – particularly in the field of tyre/road noise.

We are legally required to take back and recycle end-of-life vehicles. To meet this obligation, a high level of recycling is integrated in the development of our vehicles from the outset. In fact, the technologies we use allow us not only to meet but to surpass the statutory recycling ratios.

What kind of private transport will we be using tomorrow and in the longer term? Safeguard-ing mobility into the future, and improving it, is a challenging technological project. As a technology leader, the Volkswagen Group is highly active in the field of mobility research, and is looking into ways in which driver assistance systems and traffic management technology can mitigate accident risks, congestion and the resulting environmental damage.

A key requirement for effective action on environmental issues is a communications strategy which involves all relevant stakeholders both outside and inside the Group. In our external environmental communications we inform our customers, sales partners and all other stakeholder groups about important environmental issues relating to the life cycle of our vehicles. Our internal environmental communications meanwhile assist our employees, through training and other activities, in adopting responsible environmental practices as provided for in the framework of our Environmental Management System.

Environmental protection requires a high level of commitment from our employees, particularly in the case of in-process environmental protection. Here the emphasis is on responsible use of natural resources and the mitigation of environmental impacts. We also apply the same principles in the optimisation of our logistics processes. Finally, we take pride also in the nature restoration projects we have undertaken at many of our sites. Nature conservation is an important priority for the Volkswagen Group and all our employees.