Volkswagen Announces Its Largest Teen Seat Belt Campaign Ever - Will Reach 14,000 High School Classrooms

Students Participate in National Seat Belt Safety Contest for Chance to Have their PSA Broadcast on Television

SAN DIEGO, March 29 -- For a second straight year, Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Scholastic Marketing Partners, a division of Scholastic, are joining forces to help thwart the number-one killer of American teenagers by encouraging them to buckle up. In what is best described as a national health tragedy, more than 5,500 teens lose their lives in car crashes every year and about two thirds of these teens would have survived if they had simply used safety belts.

For 2004, Volkswagen and Scholastic are expanding the "Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far!" in-school education campaign to encompass a total of ten U.S. metropolitan areas. In addition, the campaign uses a new educational videotape to be made available to communities across the nation.

Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far! provides teachers with the necessary lesson plans and materials to teach students about using safety belts through public speaking and writing activities. Using these skills, students are encouraged to participate in a unique national contest that asks students to create TV ads or public service announcements that will convince their fellow teens to buckle up. The most effective ads created by teens will then be broadcast on national television later this year.

Volkswagen has produced a powerful new educational video on teenage seat- belt safety and plans to distribute it across the nation to all its employees and dealers who will be asked to share it with teens in their families and communities. Volkswagen made the announcement today at the annual National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities -- the Lifesavers 2004 -- in San Diego.

Early this spring the Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far! curriculum kits were sent to 14,000 high school English, history, and social studies teachers, grades nine through 12, in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Los Angeles; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale; New York/Newark; San Francisco; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C.

In addition to reaching these major cities, Volkswagen's goal for 2004 is to spread the campaign message to as many communities as it can with its new educational video that shows teens talking candidly about seat belts and life. Volkswagen will make this tape available at no charge to educators and public safety administrators through its dealers, field managers and employees.

"We want to reach even more teens this year with the Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far! program," said Len Hunt, vice president in charge of sales and marketing, Volkswagen of America. "Young people are the future and too many teens are losing that chance at the future -- the chance to go far in life. Our goal is to use the incredible power of positive peer pressure and show that buckling up really is the cool thing to do."

A national, informal poll of high school students and teachers conducted last year by Volkswagen, underscored the premise and foundation of Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far!, as peer pressure was cited as the primary reason teens do not buckle up more often. In this way, the commitment from Volkswagen to high schools is a fitting initiative. In a 2002 survey of 3,300 teens conducted by CNW Marketing, Volkswagen was rated as having the best youth image among all automakers.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that about two-thirds of teens killed in car crashes are not wearing safety belts, which are credited with saving over 11,000 lives a year.

"Inexperience behind the wheel, coupled with risk-taking behavior, often yields tragic results for our young people," said Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D., the NHTSA administrator. "We applaud Volkswagen of America for its initiative to promote teenage safety belt use."

With the Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far! campaign, a trio of student contest finalists will each receive a digital video camera and a chance to see their PSAs broadcast on television. Of the finalists, the grand prize winner will also win a $10,000 savings bond; the second- and third-place winners will receive $3,000 and $1,500 savings bonds, respectively.

Teachers of the three finalists will receive a $3,000 Apple G5 computer with flat screen monitor and Final Cut Pro Express software for classroom use and a $100 Scholastic gift certificate. Contest entries must be postmarked by April 23, 2004.

"The Fasten Your Seat Belt ... Go Far! program offers an engaging way to infuse this critical topic in classroom discussions across the country," stated Shelley White, Editorial Director of Scholastic Marketing Partners. "The program not only teaches positive messages and important communication skills to teens ... but ultimately can help save lives."

Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker. Volkswagen of America and its affiliates employ approximately 3,000 people in the United States and are responsible for the sale and service of Audi, Bentley, and Volkswagen products through retail networks comprising in total more than 900 independent U.S. dealers.

Scholastic Corporation is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct- to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com .