As a part of its TDI Clean Diesel offensive, Volkswagen Canada announced today that it would offer up to an additional $1,000 to customers who are eligible for the Federal Government's "Retire Your Ride" vehicle scrappage program towards the lease or 0% finance purchase of the "Green Car Journal's 2009 Green Car of the Year(R)", the 2009 model year Jetta TDI Clean Diesel sedan.

"We felt it was time to stimulate the market and help people move out of old vehicles that contribute the majority of the pollution and
greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles on the road today," according to John White, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group Canada. "We were hoping that the government would provide something more aggressive with their program. Upon hearing the news that they wouldn't, we decided to move ahead and get things going ourselves as part of our BlueMotionTechnologies commitment to sustainability. We are the only car company in Canada that can make such a compelling offer to purchase the Green Car of the Year."

Canada's Vehicle Recycling Program agrees with White. Its website claims that, "...1995 model year and older vehicles produce 19 times more smog-forming pollutants than 2004 and newer models. In fact, these older vehicles make up one quarter of vehicles driven by Canadians and can generate as much as half of the smog-forming pollutants caused by personal vehicle use."

Awarded the 2009 Green Car of the Year(R) by Green Car Journal last November, the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Clean Diesel offers customers 30% better fuel economy versus comparable gasoline engines and meets the strictest environmental standards in the world without sacrificing performance or the "fun-to-drive" heritage for which Volkswagen vehicles are famous. Based on Transport Canada estimates, a 2009 Jetta TDI Clean Diesel with 6-speed manual transmission can range over 1,100 km on the highway on one 55-litre tank of Diesel fuel.

Customers who are eligible for the "Retire Your Ride" Program can receive up to $1,000 from Volkswagen towards the lease or purchase of the "2009 Green Car of the Year(R)", on top of the $300 offered under the government's program.

Volkswagen's "Green for Clean" program will run until the end of this year. Details on how Volkswagen plans to offer customers "Green for Clean" are available at Volkswagen Dealers across Canada or at www.vw.ca.

About the Federal Government's "Retire Your Ride" Program:
Retire Your Ride is an initiative of the Government of Canada and the Clean Air Foundation and its partners, and is designed to enable people to get their high-polluting cars off the road and reward them for doing so. The program is committed to improving air quality by responsibly recycling vehicles and aims to retire at least 50,000 vehicles per year until March 31, 2011. It currently has retired 14,247 vehicles from Canada's roads since its inception last February. Consumers can learn more about this program at www.retireyourride.ca.

About Volkswagen Canada:
Founded in 1952, Volkswagen Canada is headquartered in Ajax, Ontario, and is part of Volkswagen Group Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and is Europe's largest automaker. Its commitment to sustainability in personal mobility can be found at:
http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/content/en/sustainability_and_responsibility.html(English and German only).

Volkswagen sells the City Golf, City Jetta, Rabbit, GTI, New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible, Jetta, Jetta TDI Clean Diesel, GLI, Jetta Wagon, Jetta Wagon TDI Clean Diesel, Eos, Passat, Passat CC, Passat Wagon, Tiguan, Routan, Touareg, and Touareg TDI Clean Diesel through nearly 130 independent Canadian Dealers.

Visit Volkswagen Canada online at www.vw.ca, and explore its BlueMotionTechnologies at www.tdicurious.ca

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