Mobility and Sustainability.

With just 6,300 employees, the Volkswagen plant in Salzgitter produces engines for the entire Volkswagen Group. Engines are manufactured for the models Golf, Touran, Passat, Polo and Fox, for Volkswagen's, Audi's and Bentley's twelve-cylinder luxury saloons as well as for SEAT and Skoda. In addition, the Salzgitter plant manufactures VW boat engines and a variety of components for VW production as well as for external customers. Since 1996, this location has had its environmental management system validated in accordance with the Eco-Audit.

Environmentally friendly production technology
MMS - that's the abbreviation for a new production technology at the Salzgitter plant, a technology kind to your wallet as well as the environment. MMS stands for "dry processing with minimal lubrication". A mixture of compressed air and the smallest possible droplets of oil provides the amount of lubrication needed. The new MMS technology replaces the lubricant coolants previously used for cooling components made of steel and aluminium alloys during processing, for lubricating tools and for discharge conveying of chips from machine interiors. In addition, stockpiling and maintenance of large quantities of environmentally harmful coolant lubricants can now be avoided. From the start, Salzgitter plant employees were involved in developing the new technology.

Protecting jobs through expertise
Through intensive training for its junior employees, the Salzgitter plant ensures both product quality and job retention for its employees. Opportunities for development including training and continuing education programmes - such as the foreman recruitment scheme- help ensure that highly-trained employees remain at the plant and assure a high quality standard. Volkswagen in Salzgitter seeks to use concentrated expertise to keep the location competitive in future. This includes support for "Projekt Region Braunschweig GmbH", together with Volkswagen in Braunschweig [Brunswick]. This project encourages forward-looking industries to settle in the Braunschweig/Salzgitter region and initiates co-operation between regional companies with research facilities. This should facilitate the creation of new value chains and additional jobs to provide lasting economic growth throughout the region.