Volkswagen handed over 5,000 Olympic vehicles, to be used for athletes and VIPs during the Games, to the Beijing Olympic organizing committee (BOCOG) on Wednesday.
Beijing 2008 official vehicles. [Courtesy of Volkswagen]
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The automobile maker's Touran, Passat Lingyu, Skoda Octavia, Magotan, Sagitar and Audi A6L models will serve three groups of those with Olympic accreditation.
Audi A6L and Magotan will serve the top officials, such as heads of all the National Olympic Committees and international sports federations, as well as foreign state heads of state.
Passat Lingyu, Touran and Sagitar will ferry other officials, such as technical personnel and World Anti-doping Agency officials, while Skoda Octavia will serve the guests of those officials.
A Multivan, a van equipped with high-level office facilities, will serve Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee and an Audi A6 Avant will transport Philip Craven, president of International Paralympic Committee.
"In order to ensure the safety and efficiency of the official vehicles during the Games, Volkswagen followed strict standards in every aspect of its business, including production, logistics and delivery," said Zhang Suixin, executive vice-president and board member of Volkswagen Group China.
"The 5,000 Olympic official vehicles are now successfully handed over to BOCOG as planned, and that gives full expression to the Olympic spirit of solidarity and dedication. We will do our best to assist BOCOG in transporting athletes, officials and VIPs and provide quality and satisfactory services during the Games."
Volkswagen has already provided some 1,000 vehicles for the on-going Olympic torch relay and another 30 for the Main Press Center.
Besides the vehicles, Volkswagen's technicians and staff are also ready to provide repair and maintenance services for the vehicles during the Games to show their support.
Those official vehicles will be equipped with special number plates of "Jing P XXXXX"
After the Games, the number plates will be returned and those vehicles will be used for test drives.
"After the conclusion of the Games, most of those official vehicles will be sent to our retailers to serve for test drives to let more people feel the Olympics," said Pan Qing, director of Volkswagen (China) Olympic marketing.
"We hope the Olympic spirit could last for long after the Games."
Pan said a series of marketing plans would be launched for those official vehicles after the Games.
