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As some of you will know I have ordered a new Volkswagen Phaeton LWB, 3.0 Litre Tdi. On November 23 I had the privilege of going to the Transparent factory, Die Glaserne Manufaktur in Dresden to watch it being built and what an experience.
Accompanied by my friend and colleague Ian Hayward we flew directly from Heathrow on Tuesday 22nd and were met by limousine at the airport and whisked off to the Hilton in Dresden. We then had the evening in Dresden and a meal at the Pulverturm Restaurant booked by Volkswagen. Collected by limousine on the Wednesday morning Ian and I were ready for the day. We were treated like royalty on arrival and introduced to Manuela Hölsten who was to be our guide around Die Glaserne Manufaktur.
Donning White coats we went down to the production line where my new Phaeton was in its second phase of manufacture. After being shown the entire production system on various cars we arrived at a station where my cars body was suspended and being moved around so the underneath parts could be fitted.
It should be made clear that whilst we are in a robotic age the Phaeton is built by hand and the only thing robotic about it are the methods of moving everything around.
I was asked would I like to fit some parts myself and being given White gloves I was shown what to do and off I went. I then signed various parts and as we were accompanied by the official Volkswagen Phaeton photographer all these exciting issues were photographed for posterity and then presented to me during the day, both on disc and selected ones as printed copies.
The final part of the viewing of the car is what they call the marriage. This is where the body and chassis complete with all working parts come together which is incredible to see. It is too complicated to try and explain all the events so I have put the photographs onto my Flickr page for all to see.
The factory is quite something with parquet floors, moving conveyors containing 60,000 magnets on which the robots move, no air tools as everything is electric so the factory is very quiet and clean which is a pleasure to see. All the technicians wear White coats and the whole ambience is of quietness and attention to detail.
Once the 2.5 hour tour was completed we were then invited to have lunch in the Lesage, the 5* restaurant in the facility. After a quite wonderful lunch we then progressed to the Phaeton shop and I was in my element with all these specialised Phaeton items.
I was then prized out of there and off we went in their fully loaded LWB Phaeton for a trip down the Autobahn. The photo on the website shows us at 200km’s even though the car had its winter tyres on. After this we were dropped back at the hotel for leisure time again in Dresden for the evening.
Whilst the factory was built specifically for Phaeton production only it initially built the Bentley Continental but as the popularity of the Phaeton grew Bentley production ceased. Phaeton production now complete 58 hand built cars a day and as the mark grew in stature China became the main focus for the Phaeton and in fact 64% of them go there.
Volkswagen decided they wanted to build a luxury car some 17 years ago and I think the wording “Inspired by Perfection” sums it up. The factory took 5 years to plan and a further 2 to build and they are obviously very proud of what they have achieved in it since 2001.
“Die Glaserne Manufacktur” officially opened 10 December 2001 and Eunice and I have been invited to attend the 10th anniversary celebrations the following weekend and feel very honoured to be asked. It is obvious from being there all the personnel love what they do, attention to detail is for all to see as they realised they were entering a market where quality had to be a priority.
The factory is a huge landmark in Dresden and quite unique as passers by can simply walk in and look at certain areas but obviously not onto the production line. They also have parties booked on factory tours but again they are not allowed into the actual production facility.
The factory is all glass and the photos on my website show that off better than I can try and explain but it has become a manufacturing model, visited by other manufacturers to see how it is done.
A unique experience and well worth the effort for all new Phaeton customers.
