Volkswagen Group Award 2018

Shortly at the Berlin power plant, the Volkswagen Group presented the Volkswagen Group Award 2018 to the 19 best suppliers of the past year. Among the prize winners is polymer specialist REHAU. The family-owned company based in Rehau, Upper Franconia, received an award in the "Local Performance Champion" category for the start of production of the VW Polo in South Africa last year.

“We are thrilled to be acknowledged by receiving this award. Our international team has done a wonderful job” said Dr. Veit Wagner, vice-president of the REHAU Group, who accepted the 2018 VW Group award in Berlin. “We were honoured in the category ‘Local Performance Champion’ for the ramp-up of the VW Polo last year in South Africa.” REHAU manufactures painted bumpers for the VW Polo in its South Africa plant in Port Elizabeth since 2009, where VW has produced the latest Polo generation successfully since 2017.  Volkswagen manufactures more than 600 vehicles per day for which REHAU supplies painted bumpers just in sequence to the production line. Volkswagen South Africa plans to manufacture 170 000 vehicles for the world market in the coming year, thereby increasing their numbers. “This additional workload will contribute to a steady growth in our plants in South Africa,” explains Wagner.

For the 16^th time, with these awards the Volkswagen Group recognises it’s best suppliers who have excelled though outstanding commitment and innovative strength.  The Group CEO, Dr Herbert Diess, thanked the suppliers for their commitment and co-operation as he spoke about change in the automobile industry. “We need powerful and reliable partners on our side to support the rapid transformation. In the future, agility, innovation and entrepreneurial courage will be even more important.  For this reason, we are creating an environment where we can be faster and more efficient in decision making and implementation.”

The 7 award categories are all about transformation of the automobile industry and reflect relevant future topics. Ralf Brandstätter, procurement executive of the VW car brand, said in his speech, “Digitization, together with electro-mobility and autonomous driving, will change our business fundamentally.  At the same time, it will increase complexity and requirements for sustainable action,” Polymer specialist, REHAU, is confident that it is well equipped for this. “Sustainable thinking and acting are core values that are firmly anchored in our company. Our success has always been determined by innovation and we are committed to providing our customers value, by offering intelligent products, services and solutions,” said Dr Wagner.