OTH Profile
The Volkswagen Group with its headquarters in Wolfsburg is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. In Western Europe, the largest car market in the world, nearly every fifth new car came from the Volkswagen Group. The Group's passenger car business is divided into two brand groups. Under the leadership of the Group, the Audi and Volkswagen brands are responsible for the performance of their respective brand group worldwide. The Audi brand group comprises the Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini brands. The Volkswagen brand group is made up of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Škoda, Bentley and Bugatti brands. Each brand retains its differentiated brand image and operates independently on the market. The complete product range extends from the low-consumption 3 litre vehicles to luxury class vehicles. The Group's commercial vehicle products are the responsibility of the Commercial Vehicles brand. The Group has established four areas of responsibility for the regional management of world markets: these are Region Europe/Remaining Markets, Region North America, Region South America/South Africa and Region Asia-Pacific. The Financial Services and Europcar business lines are jointly managed by the Financial Services Division.
Role in the project
VW will help to define the specification of the system used within the project suitable for use in manufacturing body in white structures by laser welding in a high volume automotive environment. The company will also be willing to provide a venue for site trials during the evaluation stage of work package F.
Reason for participation in project
VW would very much like to move to quality assured structures without the need for inspection by product tear down. They see the project as providing a major innovation in NDT that will improve their business, either by buying a system directly from the SMEs or using the services of a sub-contractor SME in this project.
