Hailstorm damages up to 30,000 Volkswagens awaiting delivery

[RTShadow]

Quote:

Those currently waiting for a new Volkswagen, take note: up to 30,000 brand new VeeDubs awaiting customer delivery have been damaged by hail near the VW factory in Emden, Germany. Reports indicate that the hail was ping-pong ball sized, which is certainly large enough to leave a nasty mark. Unfortunately, the naked eye cannot be relied upon to spot each minute piece of damage, so special workers have been brought in from around Germany to help inspect the vehicles under special lighting. Volkswagen, of course, assures its customers that no car will leave the premises with any damage whatsoever.

The expected cost for the large scale repair work has been estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so the German automaker is particularly thankful that it carries insurance for this particular act of God, and therefore shouldn't need to pay for any damage to the vehicles left outside. Thanks for the tip everyone!

Source: TheCarFanatic

Man I hate hail, I've dodged it about half a dozen times this spring, the midwest has been absolutely hammered by bad weather this year. Looks like we aren't the only people in the world that deal with it, yikes!!

[ENapa]

I think I've seen hail before. LOL Of course here it is never larger than a BB pellet and happens maybe once every couple of years.

[Sota227990]

I love the softball sized hail we used to see in Missouri.
those things do a number on body work... and glass.

[RTShadow]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sota227990

I love the softball sized hail we used to see in Missouri.
those things do a number on body work... and glass.

A few years back I'm working with my dad and my sister calls, all he can hear is her screaming and what sounded like a 'continuous explosion' in the background.

She was driving along and got caught in softball sized hail, in a full size older model (1983 or so) Dodge Ram. The hail absolutely obliterated the windshield, knocked out the side window, broke both mirrors, made the passenger side of the vehicle look like it had been in an accident.

Took her 45 minutes to get home, temps in the 80's and muggy after the storm passed, and the bed of her pickup had a layer of golf ball to baseball sized hair in it, even after melting for awhile.

Hail is crazy shit, thank God for garages

[NeonDan]

Quote:

Volkswagen's Emden plant occupies a total area of 4,100,000 square metres, with buildings covering about 1,600,000 square metres. The local public utilities company, the Emder Stadtwerke, operate wind turbines on the site, including one of the largest systems in the world, which has a capacity of 4.5 Megawatts. The plant site also features large parking areas for vehicles to be exported and a test facility.


Production

The Emden plant produces the Passat Saloon and is the only plant to produce the Passat Variant and the Passat CC. 2005 was the year of the new Passat (6th generation) ramp up. In 2007 about 253.000 vehicles left the assembly lines in Emden. The plant has a technical capacity of 1,250 units per day. Since 2001, Europe's most advanced press shop was commissioned. The halls of the new press shop, with a total area of 28,000 square metres, house two new vacuum transfer presses, each designed for a total force of 73,000 kilonewtons. The shop has a capacity of about 20,000 parts per day.

Workforce

The Emden plant is the largest industrial employer in the East Frisia region. At the end of December 2007 the plant has about 7,900 employees.

Port

A special feature of the Emden plant is the port of Emden, which is located in the immediate vicinity. Each year about one million vehicles are shipped to and from Emden. Ships leave the port for e.g. North America and Japan several times each week and consignments are shipped to Great Britain almost every day. The vehicles that are going to be exported are mainly transported to Emden via train. Up to 200 rail cars reach Emden every day. A platform system is used to unload the vehicles which are then loaded onto ships in the port. Volkswagen Group products imported to Germany also pass through the port of Emden. These include the New Beetle from Mexico and the Sharan from Portugal.

they make passats there....oh boy