Autostadt Experience 2008
MyTouareg offered website members the opportunity to take part in a trip to the home of Volkswagen and the Touareg. Eight participants flew to the luxurious Wolfsburg Ritz Carlton hotel in Germany on 25 August and spent five days exploring Wolfsburg, Dresden, Prague and Bratislava.
Clive and Sharon Rennie, Hennie and Henriette Coetzee, Anton and Joey Smit and Gustav and Nicolette Brink comprised the four couples that accompanied Volkswagen Marketing Communications manager Ryan Searle on the Autostadt Experience trip. Expert guides Heike Hecht and Matthias Gestrich ensured that every moment was filled to the brim with informative adventures.
Home of Volkswagen and the Touareg
The trip included the awesome Volkswagen factory and Autostadt in Wolfsburg, the breath-taking ‘Glass Factory’ in Dresden where the Volkswagen Phaeton is manufactured by hand, and off-road driving training at a World War II airfield in Groβenhain. The trip culminated in a visit to the Touareg plant on the outskirts of Bratislava that boasts an impressive cable car-type carrier which transports the finished vehicles out of the factory overhead.
For Gustav and Nicolette, this was their second Touareg Experience trip. ‘We had enjoyed the 2007 trip so much that the minute we saw there was another such trip on the cards, we entered again. We were so lucky to be one of the first four entries and thereby qualified to go on the trip again,’’ said Gustav.
Having been to Autostadt before, they knew what to expect: impressive technology and professionalism at every turn. A highlight for the Brinks was most certainly their journey to Wolfsburg: ‘We were driven to the Ritz Carlton in a Phaeton W12 at blinding speeds on the autobahn.’
Experience of a lifetime
‘The highlights of the trip were without a doubt the visit to the factories in Wolfsburg and especially in Dresden,’ recounts Hennie. ‘We expected a typical Eastern Block city but found a city beyond our wildest expectations. A highlight was the Frauen church and the square around the hotel. The German excellence came to the front again with our visit to the Glass Factory, which was most impressive. It almost looked cleaner and more sterile than a hospital.’
The trip was a combination of unforgettable experiences and memorable lasting friendships being formed. ‘The group blended in together as if we had known each other for the best part of our lives,’ said Anton Smit. Gustav Brink commented: ‘Very quickly we all became great friends. It was amazing to see 12 people connect so quickly.’
By all accounts the Autostadt Experience trip was an experience of a lifetime. The luxurious hotels, fine dining and thrill of the driving experience left all the guests feeling like kings and queens. Clive Rennie described it as ‘a really awesome and enjoyable trip, thanks again to Volkswagen.’ It was ‘altogether an amazing experience and one we will do again if we get the opportunity,’ say the Smits.
