The VW corporation's Car Storage Tower in Wolfsburg, Germany is a
marvel of German ingenuity and design.
It is a part of the Autostadt (Car city) complex, situated next to
Volkswagen's headquarters. The Autostadt acts as both the company's
theme park and distribution centre where daily 5,500 visitors view
Volkswagen brands like Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini.
The storage tower - and in fact, the whole Autostadt, looks like
something out of a science-fiction movie, but it's real. The picture
above was taken by AP photographer Fabian Bimmer. It appeared in
SFGate.com's photo gallery on October 19, 2005.
The actual space that the facility occupies is approximately only 20%
of a comparable facility with the traditional design that is used
primarily in the US. Not only is the German structure less expensive
to build, but vehicles are also "retrieved" in less time and without
the potential of being damaged by an attendant. Collecting your new
car is an event in itself. "In a fully automated procedure, your
new car is brought down to you from one of the two 20-story Car Towers.
Large signboards in the Customer Center show you when your turn has
come. Then, you're handed the keys, your picture is taken, the glass
doors open and your brand-new car appears. You're all set to go".
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