PROF. DR. RER. NAT. DR.-ING. E. H. MARTIN WINTERKORN CHAIRMAN OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD Greenpeace Deutschland e.V Ms.

Brigitte Behrens Mr. Wolfgang Lohbeck Groe Elbstrae 39 22767 Hamburg

4 October 2011 Dear Ms. Behrens, Dear Mr. Lohbeck, Thank you very much for your letter on the subject of automobile model policy and climate protection and for the meetings to date with our firms leading experts. We have the highest respect and much sympathy for the creative and nonviolent dedication of Greenpeace, its employees and its many thousands of volunteers worldwide. Moreover, I am quite certain that Volkswagen and Greenpeace have more that unite us than divide us! Exactly like you we are deeply convinced that as a global player our company bears a special responsibility for its customers, employees, society and, above all, the environment. On that assumption we have set ourselves the ambitious strategic goal of reaching the top of the automobile industry in 2018; both economically and ecologically. To that end we have aligned our business over the past years in important ways: reducing fuel usage and CO2 emissions is today a central component of our product creation process. With every new model our developers and engineers struggle against literally every single gram of CO2. As a result we have reduced the emissions of our European new vehicle fleet by over 17 percent since 2006 to the present. Today our group brands already offer their customers 136 model variations with less than 120 grams of CO2 22 of which are below the 100 gram threshold. Rest assured that we intend to continue on this path over the coming years: with ever more efficient combustion engines, lightweight construction, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles powered with renewable electricity that will operate completely emission free. I am convinced that in matters of climate and environmental protection the Volkswagen Group is on the right track. But it is also clear that we can and must do even better. For that reason in 2010 alone we have invested about 6.3 billion in research and development. And that is the reason why over the mid term 600 million flows into efficient electricity generation and renewable energy in our plants worldwide. Allow me to comment on some of the points raised in your letter:

The Golf 1.4 liter TSI that you criticize has a configuration rate of about 9 percent. At a price under 17,000 it affords many customers entry to the A-Class and in competitive terms it sets the gasoline motor benchmark for efficiency and fuel economy. In addition, this model will also be offered worldwide in those markets where no diesel fuel is available. By the way, the model with the greatest unit sales with a configuration rate of almost 40 percent is the Golf 1.6 liter TDI with 112 gram CO2/km. Consistent with the trend to smaller and lighter vehicles that you address, the Volkswagen brand with its up! model has just introduced a totally new series in the smallest subcompact segment of the market. koda and SEAT will follow shortly. The natural gas powered version of up!, by the way, will emit only 79 grams of CO2. In 2013 the electro-up! will be the first purely battery powered Volkswagen in mass production. In their respective segments our BlueMotion models led by the Polo BlueMotion with fuel efficiency of 3.3l/100 km (71 mpg) represent Volkswagens efficiency torch bearers. We offer our BlueMotion technologies in almost every model series to customers who cannot or will not do without certain equipment features. In future model generations these technologies will be steadily added as standard equipment. We have set ourselves very ambitious CO2 reduction goals. For example, by 2020 we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in production by 40 percent. At the same time we ask for your understanding that we cannot set ourselves a general 30 percent European climate protection goal because that is dependent on numerous external factors over which Volkswagen has no control. Dear Ms. Behrens and Mr. Lohbeck, even if we certainly differ on some points, we are united in our basic concern: that in the interest of global climate protection, individual mobility can and must be made more efficient and sustainable. The Volkswagen Group and its employees worldwide are working with great dedication towards that goal. We operate, however, in an environment fraught with great tensions: Only if are economically successful in offering marketable products can we continue to invest billions of Euros in environmentally friendly technologies and solutions. Only if are economically successful in offering marketable products can we secure jobs for our existing 435,000 employees worldwide and continue to employ 10,000 trainees. And only if are economically successful in offering marketable products can we continue to promote culture, education, science and balanced social development. At Volkswagen we are very anxious to continue our personal dialogue with you and therefore I am today asking that in the years to come you accompany and assist Volkswagen on its path to greater fuel economy and lower emissions. Let us meet at least once a year to constructively - and even critically - discuss the progress of our work in the interest of global climate protection. It is always better to talk with rather than past one another. In this spirit we look forward to exchanging views with Greenpeace. Sincerely, M. Winterkorn