The Volkswagen Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity on the market. The product spectrum ranges from motorcycles to small cars and luxury vehicles. The success is based on the qualification and personal commitment of 642.292 people who are employed by the Volkswagen Group. With its headquarters in Wolfsburg, it is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. Group sales revenue in 2017 totaled €230.7 billion (2016: €217.267 billion). The expenditures for R&D came up to approx. €13.1 billion. The approximately 49.000 employees within R&D account represent about 7,7% of the total workforce.
Role
The involvement in C2FUEL will deliver interesting results of the effects of using DME as fuel in a Diesel base engine. By contributing with hardware, technical support and reference data of the used test engine we expect to learn about the potentials and challenges of DME like for example reduced soot. This can be transferred to all kind of engine sizes, from automotive up to the envisaged maritime engines, which are also produced at Volkswagen Group (by MAN).