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Company

Science fiction becomes real as Volkswagen puts quantum computing to work

Chances are, if you didn’t use your smartphone to navigate traffic today, you will soon. Millions of people rely on their navigation apps to not just point them in the right direction, but plot out a route around traffic on the road. These systems all work well, but they’re limited in their ability to map only individual vehicles rather than taking the entire system into account. What if a more powerful computing system could provide navigation that anticipated where traffic was building up a

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Community

Megan Rapinoe goes from soccer hero to Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year

It was impossible to ignore soccer superstar and social activist Megan Rapinoe in 2019. She led the U.S Women's National Soccer Team to a monumental world championship victory in July and made repeated headlines for her unapologetic stance against gender discrimination and racism. And now she can add one more honor to her banner year: Being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, the fourth woman in the award’s 66-year history to win it unaccompanied. Rapinoe is the only woman

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Company

Volkswagen teams with The Conservation Fund to increase the Cherokee National Forest

From fresh drinking water and wildlife habitats, to helping fight climate change and providing natural resources, American forests play an essential role in our daily lives. To help protect forests in the United States from development and fragmentation, Volkswagen, through a sponsorship of The Conservation Fund, will donate $1.2 million to help increase the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee by roughly 1,500 acres and support other woodlands projects. “We are excited about our partnership

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Vehicles

70 years after first landing in America, Volkswagen holds a family reunion

The first time a Volkswagen Beetle came to America was nearly the last. A private importer, Ben Pon, thought the small, odd-looking cars that were popular in Europe in 1949 could find the same audience here. Early that year, Pon shipped two Beetles to the United States and tried to recruit dealers. By all accounts, the reception was a cold one; Pon sold both with no fanfare, and lore has it one had to cover his hotel bill. But Pon had the right idea. The Beetle did catch on, as did the Bu

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Atlas Cross Sport

With Atlas Cross Sport R concept, Volkswagen races to the 2020 Baja 1000

More than 50 years ago, a loose band of hot-rodders decided to run their motorcycles – and eventually the first Volkswagen-based dune buggies -- through hundreds of miles of Mexican desert, practically inventing the field of Baja desert racing. Today, Volkswagen revealed its homage to that history – the Atlas Cross Sport R – and its plan to go racing in the 2020 SCORE Baja 1000. Built from a variety of Volkswagen and custom racing components, including a 480-hp, 2-liter turbo four-cylinder, t

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Vehicles

The Volkswagen ID. SPACE VIZZION concept previews a sleek electric crossover for America

For more than a decade, Volkswagen vehicles have been known worldwide for a variety of timeless designs built from a single common chassis. The MQB platform that forms the basic pieces of the Golf compact hatchback also underpins the seven-seat Volkswagen Atlas, and almost every other Volkswagen in between. At the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, Volkswagen revealed another example of how it will take that same approach with electric vehicles, with the ID. SPACE VIZZION -- a sleek concept cro

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Chattanooga

Mentoring the next generation of auto workers

The United States faces a serious skills gap, especially in manufacturing and information technology, which has pushed employers to find new ways of recruiting, training and retaining highly skilled talent. One solution: Paid apprenticeships, which combine classroom instruction with hands-on learning for skilled workers. Since 2010, the Volkswagen Group Academy’s Apprenticeship Program at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant has mentored, coached and trained nearly 100 apprentices. The Academy cur

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Vehicles

Volkswagen launches plant expansion to assemble electric vehicles in America

It’s been less than nine years since the first Passat rolled out of the then-new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. Since then, the factory has assembled hundreds of thousands of Passat vehicles and Atlas SUVs, and just last month began assembling its third model, the Atlas Cross Sport five-seater SUV. Today, Volkswagen and government officials marked the start of the process that will end with the fourth new vehicle rolling out of Chattanooga – and the first long-range electric vehicle

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Chattanooga

Four Volkswagen Chattanooga employees share spotlight in new campaign

Assembling the Atlas, Passat and upcoming Atlas Cross Sport in Chattanooga, Tenn., takes thousands of people working closely together. For the next several weeks, Volkswagen will highlight four of these employees in a new advertising campaign that demonstrates their passion for their work. From engineering and paint to assembly and final inspection, each worker introduced in the series shares insight into their life and how dedicated they are to their role in the assembly process. “I take so

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Vehicles

One letter that stands for performance: Volkswagen R

The story of VW R begins, as many things do at Volkswagen, with the VW Beetle. In the early 1970s, European fans of the Beetle prevailed on the company to create a limited-edition version for rallying, with upgraded suspensions and brakes. Volkswagen painted the cars in a special yellow-and-black livery and called them the Beetle GSR, or “Gelb Schwarz Renner” – German for “yellow-black racer.” Today, the spirit of that GSR and other Volkswagen motorsports efforts lives on in the Volksw

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Owners

‘It’s always about the kids’: Celebrating Kimberly Tuttle on World Teacher’s Day

https://youtu.be/dG2WFyTvk7g To mark World Teachers’ Day, an international celebration of educators, Volkswagen is celebrating Kimberly Tuttle and the positive impact she has had on her students’ lives. “This is my 21st year teaching,” Tuttle says, “and it is truly a dream.” A native of Blacksburg, Va., Tuttle teaches 11th grade English honors and advanced placement language and composition in Charlotte, N.C. Her excellence was recognized early on in her career by her peers and communit

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Vehicles

How plaid became part of Volkswagen Golf GTI history

No car has a claim to fame on a day to celebrate all things plaid quite like the Volkswagen Golf GTI – thanks to one woman’s pioneering choices that over the past four decades have become a symbol of driving enthusiasts worldwide. The Volkswagen Golf GTI’s debut in 1976 caused a sensation. Even though only a few details distinguished it visually from the original Golf, Volkswagen—influenced by one of the company’s first female designers—succeeded in transforming the compact car into an af

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Innovation

The next generation of connected cars arrives with Volkswagen Car-Net for model year 2020

For model year 2020, Volkswagen’s Car-Net® relaunches with new technology and a new approach. Many Car-Net features now come standard with the purchase of most 2020 model year vehicles for the first five years of ownership. A new Internet-of-Things architecture can allow future upgrades, like voice commands and package delivery. And via Car-Net, most 2020 Volkswagen models will offer available Wi-Fi capability. “Next generation Car-Net creates the ability for the car to become part of our cus

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Partnerships

Preserving a piece of civil rights history: The Jenkins’ Bus

Most vehicles that sit outside unattended for four decades aren’t destined to ever move again. But this 1966 Volkswagen Type 2 Deluxe Station Wagon isn’t just any Bus – it’s a piece of civil-rights history, and a memory of a family that spent decades working to make the country a better place. Esau and Janie B. Jenkins spent several decades fighting to improve the lives of their neighbors on Johns Island, S.C.  From the 1940s through the early 1970s, the Jenkins family built a network of

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Company

Watch the electric ID.R set a record on one of the most beautiful roads in the world

It’s known as “Heaven’s Gate” – the world’s highest naturally formed arch, with an opening some 430 feet tall and 190 feet wide, about 5,000 feet up China’s Tianmen mountain. A hallowed and scenic site for centuries, visitors can reach the gate on a road that ranks among the most scenic, and twisting, of any in the world, with 99 sharp switchbacks. Earlier this month, the Volkswagen ID.R team went to the Tianmen Mountain Big Gate Road to set the first benchmark there of any kind for a perform

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Company

Watch the Volkswagen ID. R take on its latest speed challenge – a racing drone

From Pikes Peak to the Nürburgring and Goodwood, Volkswagen’s electric ID. R race car has set records around the world, showing how electric power can transform vehicle performance. Its latest challenge isn’t a famous track, but another type of breakthrough technology – a racing drone. Launched earlier this decade, drone racing now sports thousands of players worldwide and several professional leagues. All feature tiny, remote-controlled aircraft capable of reaching speeds of 85 mph or mo

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Special Event

Flint brings back its historic Soap Box Derby, with a little push from Volkswagen Group of America

As the cradle of the American automobile industry, Flint, Mich., has always been a playground for four-wheeled innovation. In the boom times of 1936, the town held its first Soap Box Derby for children and adults to home-build their own gravity-powered racers. Thousands of fans and even the occasional national political leader would attend the events, which were held until 1995. Since then, a lack of resources has kept the event on hiatus – until this summer, when Volkswagen Group of America

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Company

Volkswagen developing mobility solutions for people with disabilities

Volkswagen Group of America has a big mission: offering mobility solutions for people with disabilities. The Inclusive Mobility initiative is more than just a name; it’s a program that directly engages with disability groups in the early stages of designing vehicle technologies, user experience and mobility services. The initiative, led by the Inclusive Mobility team at the Innovation and Engineering Center California (IECC) in Belmont, Calif., is an industry first. While there have been pate

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Company

How Pedestrian Monitoring helps improve your view ahead

With millions of drivers and pedestrians sharing the road, it’s more important than ever to help them do so safely. That’s why Volkswagen developed its Pedestrian Monitoring technology as part of its Front Assist system to help drivers stay aware of other road users. The applied technology that makes Pedestrian Monitoring possible is a small radar, a narrow square a few inches on each side that discreetly fits behind the Volkswagen emblem on the front of the vehicle. Able to work in daylight

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Company

Come as you are: Creating a free, safe space for LGBTQ students and allies

Since its partnership with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2011, Volkswagen has been committed to supporting educational programs that foster learning opportunities and connections between art and life. One of the programs made possible by Volkswagen’s partnership with MoMA is Open Art Space, a relaxed weekly drop-in program for LGBTQ high school students and allies who are interested in thinking about, and making, art in a creative and welcoming environment. The program is facilitated by

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Company

A new era for Volkswagen innovation in America begins with the Type 20 Concept

Some two decades ago, the Volkswagen Group opened a three-person office in Silicon Valley, looking to tap the region’s burgeoning tech scene for new transportation breakthroughs. Today, that office includes more than 180 engineers, designers, researchers and social scientists – the largest such office outside Germany. Earlier this month, Volkswagen announced a new name and increased responsibility for the site: the Innovation and Engineering Center California. And to demonstrate how it wi

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Company

Volkswagen collaborates with DonorsChoose.org to support classrooms across America

Chances are if you have a child in public school in the United States, that school has received support from DonorsChoose.org. From its start in 2000 by a Bronx teacher, the crowdsourced giving network has raised more than $830 million for some 500,000 teachers. Four out of five public schools nationwide have had at least one DonorsChoose.org project, and educators have turned to the network to help fund everything from classroom decorations to clothes for needy students – helping some 34 mil

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As the Beetle ends, a look at its impact on design and Volkswagen’s future

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) holds over 200,000 works of art in its collection from around the world that represent the best modern and contemporary art. One of these is a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle, acquired as an example of iconic industrial design and cultural impact.  With approximately 21 million Beetle units built, it was one of the best-selling vehicles globally of the 20th century. With the Beetle’s third generation coming to an end, Volkswagen convened a panel of design experts at

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