VW reinvents the parking garage

If the Matrix were a movie about cars, Volkswagen’s automated parking garage would be the first scene. Their 20 story car tower at the storage facility in Wolfsburg, Germany takes up just 20% of the space that it would take to park the same number of cars in a conventional parking structure, and it’s less expensive to build. The process is completely automated. The elevator goes and retrieves the car and brings it down with human intervention. It’s a much faster process than a human system would be.

Volkswagen has capitalized on the uniqueness of the structure by bringing customers into the process. When they buy a car they are able to see the car retrieved from the structure. They get a picture and the keys to their new ride. It’s all part of Autostadt, a car-themed theme park which includes factory tours and, obviously, new car purchases.