Farming Monthly National April 2018 | Page 54

| Motors New Volkswagen Touareg drives more than 16,000km to its own world premier He's done it again: Rainer Zietlow and his team are among the guests of honour at the world premiere of the third generation Volkswagen Touareg in Beijing today. The adventurer and his companions drove to the world premiere to Beijing over land in a camouflaged prototype of the new Volkswagen Touareg. The team spent a total of 21 days on the "Bratislava2Beijing" tour. he new Touareg with its numerous driver assistance systems proved to be an absolutely reliable and comfortable car on this world premiere drive", says Rainer Zietlow. "The new Volkswagen SUV is absolutely suitable in every respect for long distances and impressed us in unpredictable road and weather conditions." For three weeks Zietlow and his team put the new Touareg to the ultimate test. The route of the "Bratislava2Beijing" project took the T Touareg pioneers through eleven countries: Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. The starting point was the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, where the Touareg has been manufactured for 16 years. Almost one million units have rolled off the production line since the start of series production in 2002. Zietlow and his comrades drove the new Touareg through wintry Europe and deep-frozen parts of Asia. Daily stages, some of which were more than 1,000 kilometres long and temperature ranges of minus 23 to plus 21 degrees Celsius, demanded everything from man and machine, giving the team unforgettable moments at the same time. Unique landscapes, hair-raising road conditions, sit-ins with ice fishers. And never feeling out of place: the new Touareg – with camouflaged front and rear before its world premiere. The journey to the world premiere in Beijing took them along the snow-covered Urals, past frozen Lake Baikal through the expanses of Kazakhstan, the mountains and steppes of Mongolia and finally over Inner Mongolia to the Middle Kingdom. 16,500 exciting kilometres, marking another milestone in the long- distance history of the Volkswagen Touareg. So far Rainer Zietlow has driven a Touareg along the "Panamericana" from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska in eleven days and 17 hours, from Melbourne to St. Petersburg ("Russtralia") in 17 days and eleven hours, from South Africa to Norway ("Cape to Cape 2.0") in nine days and four hours and from Magadan (Eastern Russia) to Lisbon in six days and nine hours. Flexible finance options now just a click away Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles launches new online finance calculator. olkswagen Commercial Vehicles is adding functionality to its award-winning website with the launch of an interactive finance calculator, designed to make the process of choosing the right finance package easier than ever for customers. The new finance calculator gives customers the ability to choose from a range of flexible finance options, including contract hire, V finance lease, hire purchase, lease purchase and Solutions personal contract purchase (PCP), to help them finance their next vehicle. After selecting their vehicle customers can then see a detailed breakdown of the different finance routes available. Customers can also adjust variables such as terms and deposits, and the examples produced using the calculator can be emailed to themselves or saved for future reference. Sarah Cox, Head of Marketing from Volkswagen Commercial 54 | Farming Monthly | April 2018 Vehicles said: “The new finance calculator is another example of our commitment to supporting our customers every step of the way through our ‘Working With You’ promise. Navigating finance options can be tricky so we, along with our colleagues from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Financial Services, have designed this calculator to make it easier for customers to understand the possible routes they can take to pay for their van and work out which is the best option for them and their business.” The finance calculator is just one of many useful online tools available on the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles website, which also offers the ability to book test drives or servicing, configure your perfect van or find a Van Centre or Authorised Repairer. For fu