The showcase for e-mobility and digitalization: since March 2017, the e-Golf has been produced at the Transparent Factory in Dresden; current production is 72 vehicles per day. In a tour which is available in nine languages, visitors experience how the electric Golf is produced and what the future of mobility at Volkswagen will look like. The highlight of this tour for visitors is a free-of-charge test drive through Dresden with electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Since January 2019, customers have even been able to come close to the e-Golf which they have ordered as it is being produced. They can accompany their vehicle on part of its journey along the production line and even lend a hand themselves.
The Transparent Factory, which opened in 2011, is unique – also with respect to its architecture and design. The generously glazed structure has been carefully integrated into the Dresden city landscape. Features include smart ideas such as the CarGo Tram which is used to deliver material and parts.
Dresden
Press releases
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Tour launch at the Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden: Actor Walter Sittler plays Erich Kästner
On the 120th anniversary of Erich Kästner’s birth, actor Walter Sittler takes on the role of the famous Dresden-born author once again – this time with scarf and skis in tow. In this play, their third based on the life and work of the best-selling author, director Martin Mühleis and composer Libor Síma bring a wintry Christmas story to the stage. The premiere will run on Saturday, 30 November in Kästner’s hometown of Dresden. Volkswagen is also providing Dresden’s Erich Kästner Museum with a Crafter panel van which is traversing rural regions with less well-developed infrastructure throughout Germany as a mobile showroom. -
Software Development Center: Volkswagen opens IT-Center in the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden
Volkswagen has opened a new IT Development Center today in its Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden. In Software Development Center Production (SDC Production), up to 80 newly hired IT specialists will be working on the Volkswagen Industrial Cloud. In the future, the Industrial Cloud will link all 122 Group-wide Volkswagen production facilities. The goal is to amalgamate all data, and in doing so consistently digitalise Production and Logistics. -
Volkswagen’s Incubator programme: six start-ups move into the Gläserne Manufaktur
Six new start-ups have been decided on for the founders programme in the Future Mobility Incubator at the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden. The winners of the final pitch were the following start-ups: AVILOO from Vienna, Kopernikus from Berlin, NAVENTIK from Chemnitz, Visualix from Berlin, home-IX UG from Stuttgart and LiGenium from Chemnitz. They will start work in the Gläserne Manufaktur in mid May 2019, where they will be able to develop their ideas for market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the business development team of Saxony’s capital, Dresden. 114 start-ups entered the fourth founders class competition. -
Volkswagen has already built 200 pre-production vehicles of the new electric car ID.3
Conversion of the vehicle factory in Zwickau to the largest production site for electric mobility in Europe is right on schedule. The members of Volkswagen’s Group and Brand Boards of Management, as well as the Group Works Council, were able to see that for themselves at today’s site symposium for all three locations in Saxony held at Zwickau. The focus was on preparations for start-up of the new ID.3 and building the expertise required for that. More than 200 pre-production vehicles of the ID.3 have already been manufactured successfully. The first ID. production vehicles are to roll off the assembly line at the end of 2019. Only e-cars will be built at Zwickau by the end of 2020 – up to 1,500 a day for Volkswagen and other Group brands. -
Intelligent power strip: Transparent Factory in Dresden installs flexible, expandable electric charging infrastructure
The Transparent Factory in Dresden is expanding its electric charging infrastructure. Extra charging points have been installed at Volkswagen’s Dresden site as part of a joint venture with the start-up ChargeX. Just days after receiving CE certification, the start-up’s first charging solution anywhere in the world has officially come on stream. The idea behind it is as clever as it is cost-effective: the only installation required was a 22 kW wall box. Two additional charging points are now connected using an intelligent power strip. 32 charging points are now available for staff and visitors. Pilot projects are also planned at other Volkswagen locations. The Office of Economic Development for the City of Dresden is also providing about €36,500 of funding for a pilot project in which ChargeX will conduct practical testing of integrated charging control (load management). -
Volkswagen 4.0 – the production systems of tomorrow are being developed in the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden
The Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden is continuing to develop into the Volkswagen Group’s primary test location for trialling innovative technologies. In conjunction with the Wolfsburg and Emden factories, the Gläserne Manufaktur is part of a “technical centre” project. The primary idea is to achieve automation of complex work steps within assembly. The special challenge is that the testing and development takes place on an ongoing basis during production of the e-Golf in the Gläserne Manufaktur. The first project at the Dresden site is a world first – the headliner for the e-Golf is now being fitted by a robot as standard. This manufacturing step will also be used in production of the ID. from the end of 2019 at Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant. -
Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH The Transparent Factory, Dresden
Information for the Press -
Volkswagen ID. will be a pioneer of sustainable mobility
Volkswagen is committed to the Paris Climate Agreement and is laying the groundwork for sustainable mobility with its electric offensive. The new ID. that goes into production in Zwickau at the end of the year will play a pioneering role: It will be the Group’s first electric car which is CO2 neutral throughout the entire life cycle if the customer consistently charges with green power. Regarding the manufacturing phase alone, the carbon footprint of the ID. will be improved by more than 1 million tons of CO2 per year. This is roughly the climate impact of a coal-fired power plant that supplies 300,000 households with electricity. In addition, Volkswagen is working on a comprehensive decarbonization program that includes measures for other models. The brand will offer more than 20 fully electric models by 2025. -
Only at Volkswagen: customers can assemble their own e-Golf in the Transparent Factory in Dresden
Customers can now get a much closer look at their e-Golf during production. In the Transparent Factory, you can accompany your future vehicle a part of the way along the production line. Under the expert guidance of the factory’s employees, the customer is able to actively get involved at four stations, e.g. when installing the dash panel. Other places where the customer can experience the assembly of their vehicle include joining the drive train to the body (“marriage”) and installing the front radiator grille. With the new possibility of accompanying production, the Volkswagen Transparent Factory in Dresden is expanding its range of services in respect of the electric mobility experience. -
Uncompromising e-mobility: World premiere of the modular electric drive matrix – Volkswagen launches ELECTRIC FOR ALL campaign
Volkswagen is driving the transition to e-mobility with a consistency and commitment unlike that of virtually any other automaker. As part of the ELECTRIC FOR ALL campaign launched today, the brand will be putting attractive models at affordable prices on the road, paving the way for the breakthrough of electric vehicles. The electric offensive is based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB), a technology platform developed specifically for electric vehicles. Production of the Volkswagen ID., the world’s first series vehicle based on the MEB, will begin in Zwickau at the end of 2019. At the launch of the ELECTRIC FOR ALL campaign, media representatives from all over the world are being given their first deep insight into the technological basis of the ID. at a media workshop in the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden, where Volkswagen is demonstrating the centerpiece of the MEB – the rolling chassis without the bodywork and interior – exactly as it will be used in series models. Volkswagen is also seizing the initiative when it comes to charging infrastructure: a design prototype of the “Volks-Wallbox” is also being premiered in Dresden. This Wallbox is an affordable home system that makes charging the ID. family easy and convenient. -
Volkswagen's incubator program goes international: six new start-ups move into the Gläserne Manufaktur
The start-up program in the "Future Mobility Incubator" at the Gläserne Manufaktur is striking out in new directions. For the first time, Volkswagen has only selected international start-ups, at pitch competitions held in Tel Aviv, Prague, London, Riga, and Hanover: CarPay-Diem comes from Luxembourg, Zouzoucar from France, carVertical from Lithuania, ToporAuto from Russia, Make My Day from Israel, and Go To-U from Ukraine. They are now working at the Gläserne Manufaktur where they are able to develop their ideas to market readiness with support from Volkswagen and the city of Dresden’s business development team. -
Volkswagen’s incubator programme: three international innovative start-ups move into the Gläserne Manufaktur
Three more start-ups have been decided on for the founders programme in the Future Mobility Incubator at the Gläserne Manufaktur: At CEBIT, the international digital trade fair in Hannover, and at a founders competition in Riga (Latvia), the start-ups CarPay-Diem from Luxembourg, Zouzoucar from France and carVertical from Lithuania were chosen as the winners. They will begin work in the Gläserne Manufaktur in September 2018, where they will have the opportunity to develop their ideas for market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the city of Dresden’s business development team. Thus with the third founders class, exclusively international start-ups are moving to the capital city of Saxony. -
Prince Albert II of Monaco finds out more about e-mobility at the Gläserne Manufaktur
Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Volkswagen’s Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden today (Friday). The head of state met with Thomas Ulbrich, member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management responsible for e-mobility and spokesperson of the management team at Volkswagen Sachsen, CFO Kai Siedlatzek and plant manager Lars Dittert. The discussions focused on Volkswagen’s route to e-mobility as well as the transformation of the automotive industry, digitalization and new mobility. Prince Albert II – who was accompanied by Dresden’s Mayor Dirk Hilbert – is visiting Saxony’s capital city to receive the “Taurus” European Culture Prize on behalf of his foundation at a ceremony in the Frauenkirche. He is being recognized for his commitment to the preservation of the world’s oceans. -
Israeli Startup enters the “Future Mobility Incubator” at the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden
Volkswagen supports innovative business ideas for future mobility. A young founder team was selected at the EcoMotion international mobility fair in Tel Aviv, Israel for the startup programme in the Future Mobility incubator at die Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden: the Make My Day startup was chosen as the victor following a pitch competition. The startup is developing an innovative app, a kind of personal assistant for your car which looks for the optimal route for the driver, the optimised charging for electric vehicles and integrates necessary daily shopping into the route planning. The user will save time and money with Make My Day. The startup will begin work in Die Gläserne Manufaktur in September 2018, where they will have the opportunity to develop their ideas to market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the City of Dresden’s business development team. -
Innovative sensor jacket trains industrial robots – Transparent Factory establishes partnership with Dresden-based start-up Wandelbots
Volkswagen's Gläserne Manufaktur (Transparent Factory) and Dresden-based start-up Wandelbots have established a novel joint venture in human-robot collaboration (HRC). This was announced today at the "South by Southwest" technology festival in Austin, Texas (USA). It aims to establish and operate an innovative testing station at the Gläserne Manufaktur in order to test new HRC applications in vehicle end assembly to prepare them for serial production. The plan: to efficiently train industrial robots using an innovative sensor jacket fitted with sensors and actuators. The activities in Dresden will cover the assembly, logistics and maintenance of Volkswagen's electric Golf production. -
Volkswagen Sachsen reduces environmental footprint using Naturstrom® hydropower
The Volkswagen brand is stepping up the use of renewable energy in production with a view to further reducing its environmental footprint. Starting this year, the three production plants of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH have been supplied with Volkswagen Naturstrom® electric power from 100% renewable sources by VW Kraftwerk GmbH. This measure is playing its part in meeting the target of Volkswagen's Think Blue. Factory environmental program to produce each vehicle and component in a way which is 45 percent more environmentally compatible in 2025 than in the base year of 2010. -
Volkswagen's incubator programme: six innovative mobility start-ups move into Die Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden
Volkswagen supports innovative business ideas for future mobility. Six young founder teams have recently been selected for the manufacturer's "Future Mobility Incubator" start-up scheme. The winners were drawn at the international trade fair for semiconductor products, SEMICON EUROPE, in Munich, and in Die Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden. The start-ups are ChargeX, keysurance, EcoG (all from Munich), S O Nah from Aachen, Embotech from Zurich, and Novum from Dresden, all of whom won their places following two rounds of pitching. They will begin work in Die Gläserne Manufaktur in March/April 2018, where they will have the opportunity to develop their ideas to market readiness with the support of Volkswagen and the City of Dresden's business development team. -
Volkswagen's incubator programme goes into its next round: innovative mobility start-ups wanted
Volkswagen supports innovative business ideas on the topic the mobility of the future. That is why the start-up incubator programme is kicking off its second round. Starting today, the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden invites young entrepreneurs to apply for the second round, the 2018 spring session, with their innovative mobility ideas. In coordination with the Office for Economic Development of the State Capital of Dresden and the Ideation Hub of Volkswagen Group IT, Volkswagen is looking for companies in the future-oriented fields of fleet management, car-sharing, concierge and navigation/park services, and smart home services. The website (https://ideationhub.de) will be active today from 11 a.m. for registration. New start-ups can apply here. The aim is for start-ups to develop their ideas into market-ready concepts directly at the Gläserne Manufaktur. -
Start-up incubator programme from Volkswagen starts with six mobility teams in the Transparent Factory
The Transparent Factory from Volkswagen is starting a new chapter: six innovative mobility teams will today begin the new start-up incubator programme in Dresden. They now have 200 days to take their innovative ideas and develop mobility products or services which are ready for the market. Alongside Volkswagen mobility experts they will be supported by Group It's Ideation:Hub as well as experts from the SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator-Programm of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management – and with financial support from the state capital city of Dresden. -
This summer, six innovative mobility teams are launching Volkswagen's start-up incubator programme
The first six teams for the new start-up incubator at Volkswagen's Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden have been chosen: the start-ups Smart City System from Nuremberg, LoyalGo from Dortmund, Tretbox from Berlin and Ekoio from Leipzig were declared winners on Thursday evening following a pitch competition at the factory. They will move into the Gläserne Manufaktur in summer, together with the start-ups Geospin from Freiburg and CarlundCarla.de from Dresden. There they will be able to develop their ideas for the market with support from Volkswagen experts and financial support from the state capital, Dresden. -
Following modifications to plant, first e-Golf rolls off production line at Transparent Factory in Dresden
Following six months of work on modifications to the Transparent Factory, the first e-Golf rolled off the production line today. In the presence of Kai Siedlatzek, Managing Director of Volkswagen Sachsen responsible for Finance, the plant management and the Works Council of the Volkswagen plant in Dresden, the first vehicle was released for delivery to a customer in Norway. The first e-Golf, painted in "oryx white pearlescent", h as a power output of 100 kW (136 PS). The power consumption is 12.7 kWh/100 km. In the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC2), the vehicle has a range of 300 kilometers. Production is to continue at the main Golf plant in Wolfsburg as well as in Dresden. Volkswagen has invested €20 million here. In addition, Dresden's most powerful public solar-powered e-mobility charging station has been commissioned in front of the Transparent Factory. For one year, four electric vehicles will be able to recharge their batteries here at the same time free of charge. -
At CeBIT 2017: Transparent Factory launches start-up incubator program in Dresden
Volkswagen's Transparent Factory in Dresden is supporting innovative business ideas connected with the future of mobility. Together with the Economic Development Department of the City of Dresden, start-ups in future-oriented fields such as fleet management, car sharing, concierge and navigation/parking services as well as smart home services are to be supported. For this purpose, the Transparent Factory launched a start-up incubator program at CeBIT 2017 in Hanover today. This program is being implemented together with the Volkswagen Group IT Ideation Hub. In the presence of Dr. Martin Hofmann, CIO Volkswagen Group, Kai Siedlatzek, Managing Director of Volkswagen Sachsen responsible for Finance & Controlling, Dr. Robert Franke, Head of the Economic Development Department of the City of Dresden, and Dr. Jennifer Sarah Geffers, Head of Ideation Hub, launched the website (https://ideationhub.de) on which young start-ups can submit their applications by symbolically touching a button. The objective is that the start-ups should develop their ideas right through to market maturity at the Transparent Factory. -
The Transparent Factory (Die Gläserne Manufaktur) is opening its doors today as a new showcase for electric mobility and digitalisation
After closing for 10 days to carry out the necessary modifications, the Transparent Factory in Dresden has opened its doors today as a new showcase for the Volkswagen brand, focussed on electric mobility and digitalisation. Around 50 interactive exhibits and vehicles allow visitors to experience future mobility first-hand in a fun and informative environment. The highlight for visitors is a half-hour test drive with electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The test drive is included in the ticket price for the Transparent Factory and, if pre-booked, is also offered on Sundays. -
Transparent Factory to be realigned: showcase for electromobility and digitalization to be developed
The Transparent Factory ("Gläserne Manufaktur") is to be realigned: Volkswagen's Dresden location will open a new Volkswagen brand showcase for electromobility and digitalization on April 8. Visitors will be able to experience the future of mobility at close quarters in a playful, interactive and informative way. From March 29, the Transparent Factory will be closed for 10 days for modifications.
Stories
For jobs and prosperity
A special relationship exists between the former Volkswagen Group CEO Carl H. Hahn and Saxony and the other East German states. Hahn was head of Volkswagen when the Wall fell in 1989. A retrospective
Best Man at his e-Golf’s wedding
It is environmentally friendly and economical, the e-Golf*. The Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden is now offering customers a special look behind the scenes.
