The showroom on the first floor of the Brand Tower is bustling with activity this week. Work is being done in spaces both big and small, and a constant stream of tradesmen is coming and going. Cables are being laid, spotlights are being installed, microphones are being hooked up and chairs are being hauled into place. Everything has to be ready by Friday. This is because this showroom is where the annual press conference being organized by the Volkswagen Brand will be starting at 10 o'clock, and which more than 100 journalists from all over the world are expected to attend. Newspapers, online media, TV and radio stations have all confirmed they are coming, along with numerous financial analysts.
Premiere at the Markenhochhaus
The Volkswagen Brand is holding an annual press conference of its very own for the very first time. More than 100 journalists from all over the world are expected to be in attendance in Wolfsburg this Friday.
The keen level of interest can also be attributed to the fact that this is the very first time that the Volkswagen Brand has issued an invitation to an event of this type. While a presentation of balance sheets for the preceding business year within the scope of a dedicated press conference held in mid-March has become a routine event at other Group brands over the years, the core brand's figures were only ever addressed on the sidelines of the Group press conference – at times falling by the wayside, despite the key significance of the Brand for the Group as a whole.
This is to change in future. "In the interest of transparency, from now on we intend to inform more often and in greater detail about Volkswagen's progress", as the Brand Chairman, Herbert Diess, says. This is why the press conference, which will be transmitted throughout the entire Volkswagen world by live stream, will be held every year from now on. Diess will start off on Friday by taking a look back over the last year. For the brand this was, as the 58-year-old says, "a very decisive year that marked the start of a new phase in our company history."
In which areas has the TRANSFORM 2025+ strategy already scored its first successes? How far has the implementation of the Future Pact progressed? Herbert Diess will start off by explaining all of this in detail to the journalists and analysts in attendance, before continuing by explaining which specific plans the Brand has for the coming year – and how the leap to the top of the automobile industry is to succeed by 2025. This will also involve addressing topics such as competitiveness and profitability, however the recently launched global product offensive will also find mention.
The Board Member for Finances, Arno Antlitz, will then shine a light on the financial situation at the Brand. He will be covering both the figures from the last financial year as well as the first quarter of 2017. The latter give good grounds for encouragement. Although sales remain virtually unchanged compared to last year's level, turnover and operating returns demonstrate highly positive growth. "These financial figures clearly indicate that we are on the right path", Antlitz says.
INFORMATION: You can follow Friday's press conference live at http://volkswagen.gomexlive.com/vw_live_pk/?lang=en