Skip to main content

Volkswagen Group Forum DRIVE opens in Berlin

  • The place to experience mobility in the capital
  •  All twelve Group brands under one roof

The Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft will be opening its new communication platform, the Volkswagen Group Forum DRIVE, in Berlin on 1 May 2015. Following extensive remodelling with a completely new design, the former Automobil Forum on the street Unter den Linden will reopen with all twelve Group brands as well as the Volkswagen Financial Services AT under one roof. With changing exhibits and staging, the house will offer its visitors a glimpse into the diverse visions and topics of the Volkswagen Group. DRIVE welcomes its guests with a new culinary programme as well as modern convention facilities.

“Our Group is the largest company in Europe. As an employer, taxpayer and innovator, it is located right in the middle of the society,” said Stephan Grühsem, General Representative of Volkswagen AG for Group communication, external relations and investor relations. “The Volkswagen Group Forum gives us the opportunity to further enliven its economic and social role. Here in the heart of the capital, we want to establish a continuing dialogue with people.”

The Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN brands will all be presenting themselves in the future under one roof in DRIVE. The brands will take turns presenting three-month exhibits, each exploring a particular issue in mobility. Star products will be permanently displayed in other exhibition areas.

In the first exhibit, all the Group brands will present individual themes in their own boxes under the motto “START –The world of the Volkswagen Group”. Interacting with digital exhibits, the visitors will discover both the past and present of the Volkswagen Group. The Living Book, a multimedia installation, provides information about other sites to visit such as the Transparent Factory in Dresden. In addition, special exhibits and cultural events will be open to the public during the year.

Interactive installations in the permanent Financial DRIVE exhibit guide the visitor into the world of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, providing information about automotive financial services as well as the company’s mobility programme. It is possible to make an appointment with an advisor on the second floor of the building. In addition to Germany’s first shop with model cars from Volkswagen Group brands, the establishment offers a new culinary concept: the urban eatery Brotzeit reinterprets the Berliner open-faced sandwich, and the chef Philipp Liebisch offers diners outstanding dishes in the Zeitgeist restaurant.

Volkswagen Immobilien GmbH is serving as the general contractor of the project, and was responsible for the overall planning, project management and construction work. Professor Christoph Mäckler Architekten is the architecture firm responsible for the renovations.

DRIVE. Volkswagen Group Forum

The Volkswagen Group Forum DRIVE is the Group’s communication platform in Berlin. Since 2015, the Volkswagen Group is presenting its twelve brands and the Financial Services AG together for the first time anywhere in the Lindencorso in the heart of the capital. With changing exhibits with varying themes by alternating brands, DRIVE is the Group’s platform for issues in mobility, supplementing a multifaceted supporting programme. Various rooms with the latest equipment are available for meetings, conferences and talks. The site of the current Lindencorso was initially home to the legendary Café Bauer, one of the first houses in the Viennese coffee house style in Berlin. After the building was completely destroyed during World War Two, a new structure called the Lindencorso was built in its place, which served as a restaurant and office block. The DDR Academy of Architecture also took up residence on the upper floor of the building. The edifice was demolished again in 1993. Construction on the current Lindencorso was completed after three years.

The post Volkswagen Group Forum DRIVE opens in Berlin appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1HNx1Ws
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Watch: The Stig Drives (nearly) Seven Generations of Golf GTI

With Volkswagen announcing “major” updates to the Golf, it seems an appropriate time to look back on what we’ve had so far. And who better to guide us through the rich history of the most popular European car ever made than Ben Collins, the former Stig? Some say he’s never met a GTI he doesn’t love, and that he can’t grow any of his own facial hair. All we know is … Ben Collins is actually a pretty solid presenter. Working his way through seven generations of the GTI (skipping over the Mk6) Collins tells us a little bit about each one and matches each mark to its corresponding facial hair craze. The Mk1 GTI for instance, is light and quick, but can lose traction under hard acceleration (in heavy rain). Despite that, Collins calls the Mk1 a “pure gem.” The Mk4, meanwhile, is a powerful return to form after the perhaps too sensible Mk3. Collins ends in the only way he could, with the Mk7, which accelerates faster than a Lamborghini Countach and is all kinds of wonderful. Watch, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Story of the Ads that Made VW Big in America

The ads for the original Beetle are almost as famous and well-loved as the Beetle itself. Looking back now it’s easy to forget, though, just how easily things could have wrong. A new short from Dial M Films tracks the history of those early Volkswagen ads that sold America on the people’s car. The story, of course, begins with the visionary agency that made the ads: Doyle Dane Bernach (DDB). As a popular agency for Jewish products, no agency was more aware of the implications of Volkswagen, and no one, it seems, was more skeptical of the brand than DDB. “Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo . William Bernbach, though, was adament that the firm take the client, probably as a way of attracting other lucrative automotive clients. Saddled with a client that he didn’t want, art director Helmut Krone says in the film that he originally came up with ads that were all wrong. Krone tried to do what other manufacturers did and was intent on selling the Beetle ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Watch: The Zerouno Cruis’n USA

ItalDesign is drumming up excitement for its new supercar based around the same 5.2-liter Audi V10 that powers the R8. Naturally, it hit the road for a cruise around California last week to celebrate Monterey Car Week. There isn’t much in the way of V10 noise—which is a real shame given the sound it makes—but you do at least get a good look at the car inside and out in this video. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber and designed to be as aerodynamic and light as possible, ItalDesign figures that it will be good for a 0-60 time of just 3.2 seconds. “We put it our best skills into the production of the first car,” said Massimo Bovi, head of pre-series production, when the Zerouno was first unveiled in Geneva earlier this year. “Using some of the finest productions methods and engaging our high-skilled workers.” The car features clever aero tricks gleaned from single-seat racing, like a y-duct up front to improve downforce and turn-in. Available in a number of trim levels, the...
Post a Comment
Read more