Martin Winterkorn Voted Automotive Manager of the Year in Italy

WOLFSBURG – April 28, 2009: The Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, has received one of the Italian media community’s most prestigious awards: a jury comprising 29 of the country’s leading motoring journalists voted him “World’s Top Manager Automotive 2008”. The award is being presented by InterAutoNews in Wolfsburg today.

In the motoring editors’ opinion, "Martin Winterkorn is a technology expert, but not a technocrat. The Group’s positioning has steadily improved under his leadership. Volkswagen is set to become the trailblazer for the automotive industry with environmental technologies such as BlueMotion and the up! concept car". They commented that Group and brand employees worked on their products with the utmost concentration. "It is both surprising and reassuring to observe how a major group responds to the economic crisis with classic instruments: with top technologies, strong products and the right organization."

The "World’s Top Manager Automotive" award has been presented annually since 2001 and is organized by the Italian ‘InterAutoNews’ trade journal. The jury includes representatives and contributors for such prestigious medias as ‘La Repubblica’, ‘Corriere della Sera’, ‘Il Messaggero’, ‘Sole 24 ore’, ‘Quattroroute’ and ‘Rai TV’.

Only recently, representatives from France’s most eminent media named Prof. Dr. Winterkorn „Man of the Year 2008".