'Through the growing efficiency and productivity of our plants, the Volkswagen brand is already making a key contribution to the achievements of Group strategic targets for 2018. However, we are going a step further: by 2018, we intend to make production at all our plants 25% more environmentally compatible,' said Hubert Waltl (Inset), Member of the Board of management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand with responsibility for Production and Logistics. On the basis of annual values for 2010, future carbon dioxide emissions, waste volumes, energy consumption in megawatt-hours per vehicle produced and overall water consumption for production are to be significantly reduced.

'Sustainable, efficient production is a clear competitive advantage,' added Prof. Werner Neubauer, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand with responsibility for Components. 'With its "Think Blue. Factory." Initiative, the Volkswagen brand is pursuing a clear strategy which pools all environmental activities at our plants throughout the world. Our ambitious targets for sustainable vehicle production have now been defined in a way which is clear and comprehensible for our customers.

'Think Blue. Factory. is an addition to the Volkswagen "Think Blue." portfolio including key measures in the area of vehicle production. The programme, which is concerned with efficiency improvements in production and the expansion of environmentally aware energy supplies, addresses all employees at the plants. In future, approaches for reducing energy consumption in production will be honored by the Volkswagen Energy Cup at an annual "Think Blue. Factory." day.'

Only a few weeks ago, the new Volkswagen plant at Chattanooga, Tennessee, was the first automobile factory worldwide to receive platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Platinum certification confirms compliance with the most demanding standards for sustainable, environmentally compatible production.