Volkswagen AG Implements Archicad 8: Corporate Identity for Car Dealerships

Worldwide Implementation of the Software for Car Dealership Showroom Construction and Reconstruction

Braunschweig/Munich/Budapest, June 5, 2003 – Archicad®8, the flagship
of Graphisoft®’s product palette, is being implemented at Europe’s
biggest automobile group. The Dealership Building Consulting Division of Volkswagen
AG will utilize the software for the construction/reconstruction of all their
dealers’ car showrooms worldwide. This means, above all, supporting dealership
partners during the integration of VW company architectural elements, as defined
by the automobile giant’s Corporate Identity. After exhaustive tests
and thorough analysis, VW AG opted for Graphisoft and purchased 15 Archicad
licenses to assist in carrying out its strategy.

With the benefit of Archicad 8 and its incorporated GDL object technology,
the Dealership Building Consulting Division’s designers wish to further
optimize their services for VW’s car dealerships. According to Michael
Schramm, Project Leader of the VW Dealer Building Consulting Division, Archicad
8 will assist in gaining the confidence of the reseller partners, mainly by
the rapid recording and registration of existing site conditions, and through
swiftly creating realistic and workable presentations of outline concepts and
on-site solution proposals: “The resulting combination of Fujitsu Siemens
Mobile H Series laptop computers and Archicad 8 was a minor revolution at Volkswagen,
but each mouse click justifies our decision to implement Archicad”, said
Schramm. “And, last but not least, the great service and competence of
Graphisoft Nordbayern GmbH also convinced us of the necessity of selecting
high-end communication and tightly defined standards in today’s markets.”
VW’s aim is to benefit from Archicad 8’s wide-ranging capabilities
with the definition of standardized preconditions for its planning teams worldwide,
without having to sacrifice creativity or the ability to create tailored architectural
solutions. GDL Object technology, which provides highly parametric building
elements for CAAD planning tasks, will play a crucial part in this.
“I have rarely witnessed such a highly motivated team of architects
during a training course. Right up to the last minute, the VW Building Construction
Center architects, whose role is to advise 12,120 dealer partnerships worldwide,
concentrated keenly on the project”, said Markus Denzlinger, Training
Manager of Graphisoft Nordbayern GmbH, summarizing the three-day introductory
familiarization course. The results spoke for themselves: already by the last
day, each participant had designed and visualized a new VW entrance portal. “Due
to the total support and commitment of the Management of the VW Dealership
Building Consulting Center, Archicad 8 will be very swiftly integrated into
the company’s workflow”, said Stefan Schrenk, Executive Manager,
Graphisoft Nordbayern GmbH.

Volkswagen is one of the world’s most successful brands. Clients’ confidence
in the brand is very high and they appreciate the security of such an established
name. They also prize the company’s consistent delivery of innovative
automobile concepts, its outstanding product quality and the longevity and
economic efficiency of VW’s vehicles. Customers appreciate the warm client
relations, which – due to the rich variety of the Company’s product
palette – usually last for a lifetime. All this characterizes the Volkswagen
brand. This characteristic is visibly expressed in the Corporate Identity;
the visual Company profile. It provides a common identity for VW AG worldwide,
clearly distinguishing the Group and identifying the VW logo at first sight – from
business cards right through to architecture.
The design requirements of the company’s architecture and Corporate Identity
are executed by the Volkswagen Dealership Building Consulting Division in Braunschweig,
North Bavaria.
The Volkswagen Dealership Building Consulting Division makes overall, global
architectural development plans for the VW retail and wholesale divisions,
and advises on, coordinates and controls worldwide Corporate Identity realizations.

Graphisoft® is a leading provider of design and management software solutions
for the architectural profession and the building industry. Founded in 1982,
Graphisoft is ranked today among the largest AEC CAD software developers in
the world, with ten offices worldwide, in addition to its Budapest headquarters.
Archicad® and other Graphisoft products are used by over 100,000 architects,
facility managers and building professionals all over the world. Shares in
Graphisoft are traded on the Frankfurt (GPH) and Budapest (GRAPHI) Stock Exchange.
More information about the company is available at www.graphisoft.com.

Graphisoft Nordbayern GmbH, as a Graphisoft Regional Division, sells all Graphisoft
products and focuses on the region of North Bavaria. They additionally sell
other software packages, hardware and services for architects and building
industry companies. Graphisoft Nordbayern GmbH was established in April 2000
and is the successor of the company ConnectionTools. Graphisoft Nordbayern
GmbH serves over 280 offices with Graphisoft products. More information about
the company can be found at www.graphisoft-nordbayern.de. Technical support
information is available at www.architipp.de