Volkswagen has uniquely celebrated its 70th birthday in Australia with a 33,545km road test of an ID.4 GTX electric vehicle.
At an event attended by the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Volkswagen Financial Services, Ampol and Kumho Tyres, driver Rainer Zietlow received the Guinness World Record certificate for the biggest GPS image made by a vehicle.
Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles director Michal Szaniecki says the immense scope of this journey reflects the ambition shared by all of VGA’s brands for electromobility.
He says few countries have such a challenging diversity of conditions as sand, snow, and flooding rain encountered at the same time of year.
“The fact that this ID.4 GTX had been driven more than 50,000km even before it was brought to Australia to do this massive drive tells customers that Volkswagen offers the highest quality, durability, and range capability and has a nationwide network to support them,” Szaniecki says.
Driving the ID.4 GTX over 42 days, Zietlow and his co-driver, photographer Marius Biela, inscribed “70 years of VeeDub” across remote parts of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and the Northern Territory. They then framed this with a circumnavigation of the country.
The message was drawn at 23,901km of the 42-day journey that involved 132 charging points, often in outback regions where BEVs are seldom seen.
A pictorial account of this ultimate test drive can be seen at: https://www.volkswagen.com.au/en/brand-experience/70-Year-Anniversary-of-Volkswagen.html
Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) managing director Karsten Seifert says the 70th birthday event and celebration of a singular record marks the commencement of the next seven decades for all VGA brands in this country.
Volkswagen Group Australia consists of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Cupra.
“VGA will become the most important European supplier of BEVs in this market,” Seifert says.
“We will soon go from four models across our brands to four times that number.
“VGA’s is implementing a multi-faceted BEV Strategy, a plan that provides customers with a comprehensive ownership package including the installation of home charging to make the transition to electric mobility seamless.”
The ID.4 and the ID.5 GTX are en route to Australia. Pricing will be announced shortly.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz Electric People Mover and ID. Buzz Cargo are also coming to Australia. Skoda’s Enyaq SUV Coupe went on sale in September. They will join Audi’s Q4 and CUPRA’s Tavascan, which will be delivered by the end of the year.
“Australia’s relationship with electric vehicles is maturing, but this country has a long-standing love affair with utes,” Seifert says.
“So we are also announcing another endurance effort, this time in the Amarok,” he says.
Zeitlow will commence another driving marathon through the Australian outback in a Volkswagen Amarok Style V6 with accessories fitted by Volkswagen and ARB to showcase the twin-cab ute’s toughness.
