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Volkswagen once again brings surprising new models, leading technologies and innovative concepts to Guangzhou Auto Show, which opened today in the capital of Guangdong province.

Continuing with its "Think Blue" theme, Volkswagen's 3,000-square-meter booth gives an insight of the present and future of the auto industry.

Weiming Soh, executive vice-president of Volkswagen Group China, gave a strong message to the media - the "Volkswagen brand will become bluer in the Chinese market".

The color of clear skies, blue symbolizes Volkswagen's commitment to a better environment and a sustainable future.

Robust growth

In the first 10 months of this year, Volkswagen brand broke its sales record again - it sold 1.4 million cars on the Chinese mainland, up 11 percent from a year ago, a surprising increase in contrast to the overall slowdown in the auto market.

"We are very satisfied with the continuing growth. Volkswagen has consolidated its advantageous position in this extremely important and competitive market," said Soh.

The growth in South China was especially visible. Since launching its "South China Strategy" at the 2009 Guangzhou Auto Show, Volkswagen has made great headway, becoming the single auto brand with the largest share of the South China market.

Soh also said Volkswagen's sales of imported cars in China hit a new record of 45,769 units in the first 10 months to surpass the whole-year total in 2010.

Benefits today

With the backdrop of the slowdown in the overall industry, what is Volkswagen's secret to growth?

"Technological leadership is Volkswagen's secret to success. Its TSI + DSG technology not only complies with China's trend in energy conservation, environmental protection and emission reduction, but also brings immediate benefits for consumers," Soh said.

On the list for the promotion of energy-saving vehicles recently issued by the central government, energy-saving models that are entitled to the new subsidy policy feature higher standards of overall fuel conservation.

Of the total 49 models on the government list, 13 are from the Volkswagen Group in which nine from Volkswagen brand, all equipped with TSI engines linked to DSG transmissions, a cutting-edge combination to conserve fuel and reduce emissions.

"At the 2010 Guangzhou show, 70 percent of the 33 Volkswagen brand models were equipped with TSI+DSG," said Soh. "At this year's show, nearly 90 percent of the brand's exhibited models have the powertrain technology, a 20 percentage point increase in one year."

Volkswagen Group will also introduce energy-saving and emission-reduction BlueMotion models to China for local production at its joint ventures.

In the near future, Chinese consumers will be able to drive vehicles equipped with not only TSI+ DSG, but also a start/stop system, recuperation system and other energy-saving options.

According to Soh, BlueMotion is already well-known in Europe. TSI+DSG are two core technologies of BlueMotion.

In 2010, a Passat BlueMotion model equipped with a 1.6 TDI engine ran 2,463.9 km on 77.25 liters of fuel, creating a Guinness World Record for a model with a traditional internal combustion engine of 3.13L/100km.

Customer experience

Soh noted that Volkswagen brand not only achieved in sales performance, but also in terms of customer experience.

He illustrated with the example of the Phaeton Lounge sale and service center.

"The revamped second-generation Phaeton Lounges will be completed and operational this year. The fifth one this year will have its grand opening tomorrow in Guangzhou.

"Adhering to the design concept of 'privacy, luxury and privilege', the Guangzhou lounge has been improved and upgraded in not only spatial layout, hardware facilities and soft services, but also with a whole new sales system that sets a precedent for custom services among same-class luxury cars, and also changes the traditional sales model."

To improve overall competitiveness, Volkswagen will also upgrade its entire dealership system in China.

"We have transformed from increasing the number of dealers to improving their management quality through training," said Soh.

At the end of March, the Volkswagen Academy was established in Beijing, its first in China.

Its is also the first Volkswagen Academy outside the carmaker's headquarters in Germany that will issue a Volkswagen universal training certificate - a milestone in the automaker's efforts to enhance customer satisfaction, improve the quality of its dealer network and further cultivate talent.

"Volkswagen brand attaches importance not only on quantity, but also on quality. As planned in the 'Strategy 2018' of Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen brand is striving to become a brand that features the most innovative volume brand and the highest consumer satisfaction in the world," said Soh.