Auto Trophy 2007: Volkswagen Clinches Title as “Most Successful Brand"

Wolfsburg / Berlin, GERMANY -- The readers of AUTO ZEITUNG have made their choice. With more than 39 Auto Trophy awards collected over the past 20 years, Volkswagen is the “Most Successful Brand” and has therefore been awarded the anniversary Auto Trophy in this special category. Prof Martin Winterkorn personally attended the ceremony to accept the prize.“I am extremely proud,” said Prof Martin Winterkorn, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, in his acceptance speech before 400 guests at the Meilenwerk Berlin forum for automobile culture. “We feel very honoured by this award, because it is the choice of the readers, the people, and our customers. I accept this prize as a good sign of things to come. The Volkswagen brand can look back on a successful past and we will do everything in our power to make sure we continue being successful in future.”Every year, AUTO ZEITUNG, a popular automobile magazine, asks its readers to elect the best cars in the various automobile classes. Spectacularly, more than 103,000 readers took part in this year’s poll, and the vote clearly went to Volkswagen. Europe’s biggest carmaker once more took the top spot in two additional categories of the 32 categories overall, with the Touran winning in the “Best Mini-Van” category and the new Tiguan coming out the winner in the category of “Best Off-Roader Priced at 30,000 Euro Or Less” only two weeks after it was previously awarded the “Golden Steering Wheel 2007” prize. These two top awards are reflected in the vehicle’s market success as well. Only three weeks after the official launch more than 42,300 advance orders are received for the new Volkswagen around Europe. The Tiguan is an important element of Volkswagen’s global growth strategy.