I have put together some photos, to provide a bit of a 'tour' for folks who have not yet been to Dresden. I hope you find them informative. If you would like to visit the factory, they are very much 'visitor oriented' - the factory is open about 10 to 12 hours a day for visitors, and there are two possible ways to make a tour:

1) For the general public - anyone who is interested in visiting, kids, adults, whomever: There are both guided and self-guided tours available almost every day. There are interpretive exhibits, partially assembled Phaeton components and cutaway models, and even a 6 axis full motion W12 simulator, complete with a visual system, to allow you to 'test drive' a W12 on the autobahn at any speed up to the full capability of the Phaeton. Allow about 4 hours for the visit.

2) For prospective Phaeton purchasers: Contact the reception desk of the factory ahead of time, and make an appointment. A customer service representative will take you on a tour, and assist you in choosing colours and options for your Phaeton. Either before or after, you can browse through the public tour areas mentioned previously. Allow a full day.

The factory is located right in the heart of downtown Dresden, only about a 15 minute walk from the main square (the Church of Our Lady, or Frauenkirche). It is well served by the city public transit system, which stops right at the door. The same tram lines that transport passengers also bring the various Phaeton components to the factory for assembly.

There are a number of very nice hotels quite close-by to choose from, personally, I prefer the Hilton, because of its delightful location right beside the Frauenkirche. The factory has its own website, GLÄSERNE MANUFAKTUR DRESDEN. Click on the little Union Jack flag in the lower left of the main page if you want to view the site in English. In the meantime - here are some photos that will give you an orientation to the Phaeton build process.

Michael

The Factory Itself
The factory is located directly beside the Dresden botanical garden, and VW has taken care to make sure the landscaping compliments the park beside it.

The glass building is especially attractive at dusk.

The factory is located at the intersection of Lennéstrasse and Stübelallee, and there is passenger tram service on both of these streets. If you walk in a north-west direction along Stübelallee for one mile, you will be right in the heart of the old city of Dresden. The name of Stübelallee changes several times as you walk along, but it is obvious that it is the same big, wide promenade.

But, that was not a normal passenger tram...
The tram in the photo above is actually the Volkswagen tram that brings parts from the logistics facility to the Transparent Factory. It looks quite a bit like a normal Dresden tram-car, but if you look at the side of it, you can see that it is a 'freighter', not a passenger tram.

The next two photos give you an idea of the architecture of the building. Yes, it is this clean, every day.

Arrival of the carosserie (body-structure)
The carosserie is built in Zwickau, about 60 miles from Dresden, in the same building as the Bentley Continental GT. It is painted there, and then transported to Dresden. This is more or less what it looks like when it arrives, before Phaeton assembly begins.

The fuselage-stuffing process
Each Phaeton is individually hand built. Sometimes two people work on the car at once, but more often, one person works by him or herself. Because each Phaeton is unique, all the parts and components needed to construct that specific car are picked ahead of time in the logistics center, and loaded onto storage modules. You can see two storage modules, there is one in front and one behind each car. The small square station in the right foreground contains specialized tools that are used to assemble the vehicle at that particular stage of its assembly.

Another view of the work area
The word 'assembly line' really doesn't seem to fit here, but there is a moving line. You can see the two tiny seams in the floor, on either side of the car. The portion of the floor inside those seams moves in a continuous loop throughout the work area. It moves very slowly, about the same speed as a revolving restaurant. You don't really notice the movement when you are inside the factory. The semi-circular arcs in the floor sections allow the entire section to slowly swivel to turn a corner.

Early in the 'stuffing' process.
This is a photo of a Klavierlack Black Phaeton, quite early in the build process. Some components have been installed, but work on the interior trim has not started. The running gear has not yet been installed.

Lifting the Phaeton
At some stages of the build process, it is easier to do the work if the car can be lifted up and moved around as needed. The overhead cranes lift the car up, using the same 4 points that the car normally rests on, and the employee can then move the vehicle around as he or she wants. The working environment in this assembly plant has been very carefully thought out - there is no comparison with other car manufacturing facilities.

Mating the body-structure and the running gear.
Once all the wiring, electronic components, and other necessary parts are installed into the carosserie, it is then time to mate the body-structure with the running gear. The running gear is also assembled by hand, and brought to the main production area by an elevator. Little magnetic sensors beneath the wood floor guide the cart that contains the running gear to the correct position beside the overhead crane.

A different view of this work area:

Aligning the carosserie and the running gear
This is the first stage of the mating process - to make sure everything is correctly lined up.

The carosserie is lowered to a comfortable working height
Note that the little electrically powered cart that was holding the running gear in the photo above has now moved out of the way. These carts are quite sophisticated, and move to the correct locations on their own, once the craftspeople are finished with them and initiate the movement process.

Attaching and connecting different parts
Now you can see the advantage of being able to keep the body-structure well above the floor.

The running gear then moves up, once everything is aligned.
(Bet you thought the car was going to move down, right?)

After the mating process
The Phaeton is starting to look a bit more like a finished car. The next major work will be installing the interior trim.

Moving to the next assembly area
Once the Phaeton is on the overhead crane assembly, it makes sense to leave it there until all the required work on the underside of the car has been completed. Once that is done, it will be placed back onto a workstand at surface level, as shown in the photos of the beginning of the process.

Final Visual Inspection
The interior has been installed, fluids added to the car, and the wheels and tires installed. The Phaeton is now moved into the light tunnel for a very thorough visual inspection. The next process after this will be testing the car, on both dynamometers and on the test-track underneath the factory.

And into the storage tower
Phaetons that are built for customers who plan to pick their car up at the factory are placed into the glass storage tower after they have been built, and the complete pre-delivery inspection process is completed. Phaetons that will be shipped overseas go to a different area, to be wrapped in protective packaging. The little courtyard area in the left foreground is part of the public area of the factory. Directly behind it, you can see the assembly areas.


Modified by PanEuropean at 10:19 PM 3-30-2008

VW Individual Phaeton Interiors - some photos
front quarter panel and ...
Glass Factory in Dresden invaded by Space Aliens...

and, for those of you who may be new to our forum and are interested in learning more about this wonderful car, Welcome! We are a group of Phaeton owners who use this forum to discuss our common interest. We have put together a 'Table of Contents' that provides links to additional photos and discussion about the Phaeton - to view the table of contents, just click here: Phaeton Forum 'Table of Contents' (FAQ by Category). We welcome new members - the only requirement for membership is an interest in the Phaeton - and we won't send you any junk mail, or give your personal details or email address to anyone else.

Michael
Phaeton Forum Moderator

Modified by PanEuropean at 3:43 AM 12-22-2005

David

2004 Black/Anthracite with European suspension height, paddle shifters, tinting, keyless start. 2007 MB S600 My band's website: http://www.horndogsband.com/

For the information of those who plan to visit the Transparent Factory in Dresden, below are the hours of operation, and the contact numbers. The staff at the Transparent Factory welcome visitors 7 days a week, just about every day of the year. Children are welcome without age restrictions, and no advance reservation for the tour is required.

Modified by PanEuropean at 10:13 PM 3-30-2008

2004 Black/Anthracite with European suspension height, paddle shifters, tinting, keyless start. 2007 MB S600 My band's website: http://www.horndogsband.com/

The car that 'looks like a convertible' is actually a Luna Blue car car with the Klavierlack paint finish. I'm pretty sure that if VW did have a prototype Phaeton convertable, they would not leave it out in a public area - and that little forecourt with the three cars in it is a public area of the Glass Factory.

Michael

Thank you for sharing these photos.

Do you know if VW has a short film made on how the Phaeton is built and the factory itself? If they do, I think it would be a great marketing tool. Maybe we could post a link to it on the Vortex website.

If not, then maybe they should consider it making a video. This factory is stunning and really shows off the quality and craftsmanship that goes into every Phaeton.

I believe a factory video explaining how the Phaeton is made could be a key selling tool used to enhance the Phaeton sale.

No wonder VW is looking to build the Bentley's there.

My wife and I are planning to go to Scotland late summer, early fall. Looks like I need to plan a side trip to the factory.

Thank you for posting these incredible photos.

Modified by rmg2 at 3:00 AM 2-18-2005

Former Owner
'04 Phaeton V8
Black Klavierlack/Sonnenbeige
FL1, PCT, PTE, 9VE, 4F6, P18.
". . . the best luxury car in the world under $150K."

2004 Black/Anthracite with European suspension height, paddle shifters, tinting, keyless start. 2007 MB S600 My band's website: http://www.horndogsband.com/

04, Touareg V8 52xxx Colo red,pillars, V10 grill,
04, Phaeton V8 100xx Mirror Silver, debadged,tint, painted rockers
Gone but not forgotten

Forget the automobiles, that factory has got to be the most impressive piece of German engineering that I have ever seen. The architect and engineers should be very pround of the final result.

I also think that Volkswagen should be commended for investing what had to be a massive sum of money into the former East Germany.

Thanks again for a great post.

Chris

We are! PennState!

Below is a photo that a Customer Manager took of forum member David Duty's car, once it was fully built, but just before it went into the final test and acceptance area.

Almost 100% built, but waiting for final testing and quality control to be conducted
The cable coming out from the back supplies positive DC voltage to the car, to avoid depleting the batteries during the production process. The A4 size paper label behind the passenger door identifies this car as a "VW Individual" special order car.


Modified by PanEuropean at 10:23 PM 3-30-2008

As a former car designer from Detroit, I can really appreciate the discipline and passion that went into the development of this vehicle. The procurement scope for this program is simply astonishing!! This glass factory is awe inspiring!

In my opinion. German engineering is all about execution, they have executed extremely well on this manufacturing facility. Hats off to the VW production engineering group!

Just out of my own curiosity, do they have classical music playing in the background on the assembly line?

Thanks,

Robin

After looking at Michael's photos, my only thought was that we all need to install Canadian Maple floors in our garages so the Phaeton feels at home

Chuck Norris roundhouse kicks a ZO6 and a ZR1 is born.

Sorry I havent been around much guys, but Michael, that is damn good work, again you never cease to amaze me. makes me want to hop in a plane and fly there to go see it in person...wait, I should be in Greece for my honeymoon this fall....hmmm, possible "business trip" write off, I might have to make this one work!

Thanks Michael.

D

For sure. It is interesting to note that Canadian Maple was chosen for the solid wood floors of the Glass Factory in part for technical reasons: It is one of very few woods that meet the very strict fire regulations governing use of wood in manufacturing facilities. It's also worth noting that the floors are solid maple, not maple veneer.

Michael

DVB = dresdner verkehrsbetriebe AG = dresdner transporting enterprises AG

So is the phaeton the only car in it's class that's handbuilt? I'm really surprised this tidbit of info isn't brought up more often in the popular press. I think this would be a signficant piece of information. Probably a stupid question, but are either the v8 or W12 motors hand assembled like the AMG cars? How about production of the body? It was mentioned that the body was assembled elsewhere, along with the CGT, are there any hand-formed body panels on either car?

The more I learn about the the phaeton the more in-awe I become! Stunning automobile.

I'm not really sure how or where the engines are assembled. It's possible that they are made at one of VW's purpose-specific engine plants, such as the plant in Chemnitz. The Phaeton bodywork (carosserie) is built in Zwickau/Mosel. As far as I know, there is very little hand-work involved in the production of the carosserie. The precision of measurement for the Phaeton bodywork is in the order of 10ths of a single millimeter, and it is impossible to achieve that precision by hand. Most of the work is, I understand, done by CNC machines and then aligned by laser systems, prior to welding or bonding. Whatever the process used is, it is the same for both the Phaeton and the Bentley, as they are built in the same hall.

Both the engine plant in Chemnitz and the very large manufacturing facility in Mosel are part of Volkswagen Sachsen, which is the company that oversees much of the production in Saxony. It is interesting and amusing to note that the Phaeton and Bentley bodywork are built at the very same site that was for many years the manufacturing plant of the Trabant, prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. I don't think VW mentions this in their promotional material. I visited the Mosel plant in November 2004 - about the only thing that remains from the Trabant era are the trees in the forest surrounding the factory, everything else has been newly built since 1990.

Michael

Michael

A poster from the engine factory in Gyõr


Modified by PanEuropean at 10:33 PM 3-30-2008

"For Vehicles in this Carline"

U.S./Canadian Parts Content = 1%
Major Sources of Foreign Parts Content (non-U.S./Canada):
Germany = 75%
Hungary = 15%

"For this Vehicle"

Final Assembly Point: Dresden, Germany
Country of Origin:
Engine - Hungary
Transmission - Germany

I guess the engine is considered ~15% of the car?

well, the motor, most of the hoses, and such...but the V8 assembled for the Phaeton is out of the same plant as our beloved touareg, so maybe a reflash will give the t-reg the 335HP? As I dive deeper into the VW site that shows its world wide plants....(www.volkswagen-environment.de) it shows nothing in Hungary......a couple in Poland, belgium, spain, portugal, and of course, germany.....who is the V8 made by?

Check out page 24 of this report from 1998 for info on the engine plant in Hungary.

http://www.autoindustry.com/issues/9807w.pdf

I wonder what the 1% USA content in the Phaeton is? Do you think they count the navigation acceptance screen and the 5 pounds of legal warnings in the Owner Manual as 'content'?

Michael

W12 Engine

Modified by PanEuropean at 10:36 PM 3-30-2008

It makes my 1990 Jetta GLI and 2003 New Beetle GLX seem inferior....

Michael

Michael

I wanted to give everyone a brief update of my trip to the factory for a private tour that was arranged by VWofA.

Background: I was in the process of buying (or trying to buy) a Phaeton a few months ago. I wanted a four seat V8 with all of the options in Black with a Tan interior. My dealer was able to find one on a boat that was already on the way and so I started the process of getting financing numbers, etc. Needless to say, VWofA or the dealer (could not figure out who) did not want to switch the 17" wheels for the no-cost 18" - so the deal was lost.

In the meanwhile, I googled looking for more information about the car and found VWVortex. My obession became complete ;-). I spent the next few weeks posting questions, reading stories and getting to know more about the car and the passion that the car seems to generate. I am a long time Macintosh user - so I am used to people being so passionate about their choice and not taking the same road as others (I use a Windows machine at work - so before I get everyone enraged with the macintosh people being more passionate ;-)).

PanEuropean gave me some advice on setting up a trip and since I spend a good amount of time in Europe, I was able to make some changes to my last trip to fly into Frankfurt - from there a quick 5 hour train ride to Dresden.

Arrival:
Upon arriving in Dresden at the train station, VW arranged to have a driver waiting for me. I was expecting a Phaeton but instead they had this business limo which looked like a giant minivan. I was a little disappointed at first, but when the driver popped the door with his keyfob and the door rolled back - I was amazed. The first thing that I noticed was that it had four seats in the back - two facing another two. The second thing that I noticed were that they were the same seats as the Phaeton - except in seude. The next thing that I noticed is that it had the same console as the four seat Phaeton. In other words, the interior was amazing. It had buttons for a tray that popped out of the side wall - another button for a drop down LCD (much larger than the headrest one in the Phaeton)... I asked the driver - Billy - how much the van was - and he said something like 120K euro - that would be about 145K here in the states - I can see why they are not selling it here. I don't think that people would spend that much - but if it were the price of the Phaeton ;-). The engine was a V6 - which I thought might be underpowered for a van of that size - but it seemed to work.

The Factory
The next morning my wife and I took a taxi over to the factory. Five minutes later, we walked into the lobby and noticed about 30 people waiting to begin a tour. I checked in with the reception and I was escorted upstairs to a waiting room which many will know from this website. The room contained the leather and paint chips and had a computer in which you could drag items under a sensor and the car displayed on the screen would change. Pretty cool stuff.

It was at this point that I realized that I had a private tour and would not be joining the group. The person from VW who delivered the tour (I have to get her name from her business card) was excellent. She spoke perfect English (which was important because I only know a few words in German - hamburger and frankfurter being the majority of them) and we entered a discussion about the factory and how it was built and what I expected of the tour. After explaining how I would like to be able to order a few individual items - she was suprised that I could not order them directly from the dealer. She showed me a catalog with pictures of the different customizations - including a yellow phaeton with an equally terrible interior - which is nothing to be proud of - except to say that they would do any type of customization.

We then went downstairs to start the tour. I don't know how to explain this except that the entire factory was quieter than my house is at this moment. I was able to have a conversation the entire time and I was suprised at the lack of noise - almost any noise - in the entire factory.

The entire assembly line is powered by induction - everything is under the floor - power is supplied by that magnetics. The factory has two robots only - one to put the spare tire wheel well in the trunk and the other to install the windshield. Most of the components are built by subcontracting companies and put together in the factory. The cars arrive already painted with the doors on them. The doors are removed and the car begins the first of four phases of assembly.

Two hours later... ;-)

I was amazed. I felt small compared to the brains that assembled this plant - the robots and the building. A few years ago, I was invited to Calfornia to tour the NeXT Computer plant and I left there feeling amazed. Empty mother boards would start at one end of the factory - automated chip inserts would do 200 chips a minute - and a completed machine would exit the other end waiting for the only human to clean and pack the machine. That was a humbling moment - but this was even more so. I watched the two robots for about 10 minutes each - how graceful and exacting they were. It was like a dance - the way that the windshield robot would measure the car - then measure the windshield - apply hot glue to the windshield and insert the windshield.

After the tour we went to lunch at the resturant in the factory. I invited my tour guide to sit with us - I was very interested to hear more about the factory and VW in general. After a very fancy lunch - the head of the factory came in to have lunch at the next table. My tour guide explained that the man was loved by his workers and I could feel the respect from everyone in the room. It was impressive - and I was impressed. This man controlled the entire factory which was so well run it could have been a clock. Nothing was out of place and it made you believe that the car was not only well made - but it was a more viable answer to the more expensive MB and BMW - because not only was the car less money - it was even better made...

After lunch (which I was not allowed to pay for - thanks VW ;-)), we went upstairs back to the room to spec out my car. I added all of the options that I wanted including the better leather chairs (we only get the preforated) and wood steering wheel - I was ready to go back to the hotel to pack up my things for the train ride back to Frankfurt. The printer was not working and I did not get my print out - with my order codes (which I am going to try to order here in the US.)

The one thing that I did not mention above is that when I first arrived - I was talking to the tour guide (I promise to get her name here - I have to unpack my luggage first) is that we were talking about the car and the community on the internet - specifically VWVortex. PanEuropean's name came up as one of the most knowledgeable people outside of VW on the Phaeton - and I was not the one to mention the name. PanEuropean has their respect and mine as well ;-)

I bought a few things at the front desk including a brochure of the transparent factory which I am going to disassemble at work and PDF it here to the board. It is impressive. I also bought a model of the Phaeton for home along with a bunch of smaller phaetons for my family. I have to make them suffer for my obession. I also bought a lighter for my wife - how romantic am I...

2006 cars are being made on the line now. I was told that the engine was the only thing that changed on the 12 cyl. I already emailed my dealer and was told that they don't have pricing or the ability to order a 2006. I was also told that DVD navigation along with a refresh was planned for 07. I would guess that is when the car will look more like the passat.

We did talk about the bentley and I did not realize that it is 30 or 60 cm larger than the phaeton. I saw the short wheel base and realized that it looked better than the long wheel base (in my opinon). The back door does not have the same cut. I like them both - but hte swb looked more graceful to my eye..

I hope that I did not bore everyone here. I had my camera with me but never took it out to take a single picture. I was so amazed with the tour that it never crossed my mine.

Keith

And yes, Michael does have a unmatched knowledge of the car. Kudos to him.

The limo that picked you up at the train station - was it a limo version of the Phaeton? I'm really interested at seeing that!

Once again thanks for sharing your experience!