New Volkswagen Touareg driven more than 16,000km to its own world premiere

Rainer Zietlow and his team were among the guests of honour at the world premiere of the third generation Volkswagen Touareg in Beijing. The adventurer and his companions drove to Beijing over land in a camouflaged prototype of the new Volkswagen Touareg. The team spent a total of 21 days on the 'Bratislava2Beijing' tour.

"The new Touareg with its numerous driver assistance systems proved to be an absolutely reliable and comfortable car on this world premiere drive," said Rainer Zietlow.

"The new Touareg is absolutely suitable in every respect for long distances and impressed us in unpredictable road and weather conditions."

For three weeks Zietlow and his team put the new Touareg to the ultimate test. The route of the 'Bratislava2Beijing' project took the Touareg pioneers through 11 countries: Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.

The starting point was the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, where the Touareg has been manufactured for 16 years. Almost one million units have rolled off the production line since the start of series production in 2002.

Zietlow and his comrades drove the new Touareg through wintry Europe and deep-frozen parts of Asia. Daily stages, some of which were more than 1,000km long and temperature ranges of minus 23 to plus 21 degrees Celsius, demanded everything from man and machine, giving the team unforgettable moments at the same time. Unique landscapes, hair-raising road conditions, sit-ins with ice fishers.