Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH
Gläserne Manufaktur (The Transparent Factory) Dresden

Current situation
After 24 years, the last vehicle rolled off the production line in Dresden on 16 December 2025: a red ID.3 GTX From 2026, an innovation campus will be built on part of the Transparent Factory site in collaboration with TU Dresden. Volkswagen will remain the operator of the building and will continue to be present at the site with marketing and sales activities.

Dresden's largest public and partially solar-powered e-mobility station was built directly next to the Transparent Factory. It has been in operation since April 2017. A cooperation agreement was also signed between Volkswagen Saxony and the state capital Dresden. The aim is to develop Dresden into a model city for electric mobility and digitalization.

Since 2017, the Transparent Factory has been cooperating with external start-ups and companies in various formats. Initially, the cooperation took place within the framework of an incubator program on mobility topics, but now it focuses on individual projects related to digitalization and AI topics for production and logistics. In addition, the ‘Future Mobility Campus’ was opened in March 2018, where employees, school classes and dealers receive training and further education.

Production and new business areas
The Volkswagen Phaeton and Bentley Flying Spur were manufactured at the Transparent Factory for 14 years until March 2016. The reorientation towards flexible manufacturing for various models was completed. From April 2017 to December 2020, the e-Golf rolled off the production lines. This made the Transparent Factory the first Volkswagen brand site to be completely converted to electric mobility. Series production of the ID.3 began in January 2021 and ended in December 2025. In 2025, 6,200 ID.3s were manufactured, the last vehicle being a red ID.3 GTX bearing the signatures of all employees. It remains at the site and will be integrated into the visitor tours. After exactly 165,508 vehicles, production at the site came to an end.

In addition to production, new and expanded business areas have been established and developed over the years. Sales, for example, have become increasingly important in recent years. Up to 20 vehicles can be handed over to customers at a time. In 2025, around 3,500 vehicles were handed over to customers. After 2021, with 4,320 deliveries, this was the second-highest figure in the site's history. More than 95 per cent of the models delivered in Dresden were partially or fully electrified. The front-runners are the ID.3 and ID.4 models manufactured in Saxony, as well as the ID.7.

Experience world and service for customers
Volkswagen is breaking new ground with an experience world integrated into the factory. Here, interested parties and customers can find out about Volkswagen and the topics of e-mobility and digitalization. In 2025, 105,000 visitors came to the Transparent Factory. With production coming to an end, 2026 will be a transitional year in which the experience world will undergo regular changes. New features include themed islands and a show production facility to create as authentic a production experience as possible even without series production. The former assembly workers are actively involved in the guidance process. Technical exhibits are designed to impart knowledge and create an interactive experience through playful components.

With KID.s tours, sustainability tours for school classes and offerings in simple language, there is a wide range of tour formats available. Test drives in the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7 and ID. Buzz are also offered. The following models can be picked up at the Transparent Factory: ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, ID.7 and ID.7 Tourer. The partially electrified models of the Golf, Tiguan, Passat and Tayron, as well as all variants of the Touareg, are also available for collection.

Environmental protection
In 2018, the Transparent Factory became the brand's first location worldwide to produce its vehicles in a CO₂ -neutral manner. The power supply is already CO₂ -free thanks to Naturstrom®, which saves 3,600 tons of CO₂ per year. In addition, the heat supply and the vehicle fleet are also CO₂-free.

Responsibility for the environment also includes biodiversity. Environmental protection was already of central importance during the planning of the Transparent Factory: around 56,000 euros were invested in planting 350 trees. Special sodium vapor lamps in the outdoor area operate in the yellow spectral range to protect the insects from the nearby botanical garden. Furthermore, the depth of the building complex was designed in such a way that the groundwater balance remains in equilibrium. The sealed area has been reduced from 6.7 to 4.8 hectares compared to the previous development status of the site. Volkswagen is also specifically committed to biodiversity: Since May 2019, up to twelve bee colonies with á around 50,000 animals have been buzzing around the factory premises at the Great and Botanical Gardens.

Social and cultural commitment
The Transparent Factory is not just a production facility and employer. With its location in the center of Dresden, it is part of the social and cultural life of the city and therefore also bears responsibility for the future of the region. The Transparent Factory wants to make life with electromobility accessible to visitors and help shape the automotive future of the city of Dresden with new mobility concepts and offers. The fact that the Transparent Factory also fulfils its responsibility to the people of the region is reflected in the promotion and support of numerous projects and activities dedicated to social welfare and cultural development.

The employees set a sustainable example with the leftover cent campaign, for example. For more than 17 years, they have been donating the cents left after the decimal point on their pay slips every month. The Transparent Factory uses the proceeds to support the Dresden support organization for children and young people with cancer - Sonnenstrahl e.V. Another annual employee campaign is the support and participation in charity runs for UNICEF Dresden. Volkswagen also promotes cultural education and development through regional cultural projects and partnerships. The commitment ranges from a long-term partnership with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Semperoper.

Plant Manager
Dr. Martin Goede comes from Hanover and joined the Volkswagen Group in 2002. Since then, the mechanical engineering graduate has worked in the Production & Logistics department. Before moving to Dresden in autumn 2022, his work focused on designing future factory concepts and production for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand. Prior to that, he had been head of technology planning and development since 2011.

About Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH
The founding of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH in December 1990 marked the start of Volkswagen AG's ambitious project to establish a competitive production facility for Volkswagen vehicles and engines in one of Germany's most traditional automobile manufacturing regions. In addition to the temporary use of existing facilities at the Zwickau and Chemnitz sites, which were completely modernized by Volkswagen, two new production facilities for vehicle and engine construction were built. The Transparent Factory Dresden was opened in 2001. In 2014, Automobilmanufaktur Dresden GmbH merged with Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH.

Since then, Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH has included the Zwickau vehicle plant, the Chemnitz engine plant and the Transparent Factory in Dresden. Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH employs 10,000 people (including Volkswagen Training Institute). Around 98 per cent of the workforce have completed specialist vocational training or have a master craftsman, university or university degree. The average age is around 45 years and the proportion of women is currently 12.5 percent.

Danny Auerswald is Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH and is responsible for the Technology and Logistics divisions. Prof. Thomas Edig (Human Resources and Organisation) and Dr. Jochen Rahmfeld (Finance and Controlling) are members of the Management Board.