OREANDA-NEWS. Today, the Volkswagen Group is publishing its new sustainability report. Previously, exclusive excerpts had been published via Twitter. For the first time, the report includes essays by Board of Management members on economically, environmentally and socially responsible conduct as well as articles focusing on current issues. Last year, the Group defined 16 fields of action with a view to making further progress on the way to becoming the world’s most sustainable automobile company.

“As one of the world’s largest industrial companies, we bear a special responsibility,” emphazises Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft: “And we want to use our power for the benefit of people, the environment and society. For us, sustainability is not a ‘nice to have’. Sustainability is a real, measurable value driver for our business.”

The key topics of the Group in connection with sustainable governance range from customer satisfaction to supplier relations, from health to equality of opportunity, from intelligent mobility and networking to more environmentally compatible electrified products. Winterkorn: “The world we live and work in is changing more dramatically and faster than ever before. As a company, we must take our customers, partners and employees with us on the way to the mobility of the future. Orientation, safety and trust – these values are and will remain the foundation of technological progress.” Bernd Osterloh, Chairman of the General and Group Works Council, added: “Poverty needs to be combated, nature protected and culture nurtured – companies must not evade these social responsibilities.”

The highlights of the report include the 57 model variants with a maximum of 95 g CO2 / km and a reduction of 19.3 percent in environmental impact by production within four years. Volkswagen supports 200 social projects throughout the world. In Pune, India, a new plant and 69 suppliers have created 13,500 new jobs.