Car wash opt-out gives Volkswagen Group customers the choice to be clean or green!

Volkswagen Group is encouraging customers to be ‘green rather than clean’ as part of the expansion of an initiative to swap the standard post-service wash and vacuum for planting a tree. More than 150 retailers from 21 investors across the Group’s Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Škoda and SEAT/CUPRA brands are offering the car wash opt-out as an option at their sites. Since January 2025, five million gallons of water have been saved and over 45,000 trees planted. A number of investor groups, including JCT600 and Yeomans, are pioneering the initiative and the results are positive with around a quarter of customers are happy to swap their car wash for tree planting. Volkswagen Group is working with Ecologi, an organisation which aims to inspire and empower businesses to accelerate global climate action, to undertake high-quality tree planting and sustainable projects across the globe. Jaspal Toor, Aftersales Propositions Manager at Volkswagen Group UK, said: “We’re really pleased to be expanding our car wash swap for customers. We know that sustainability expectations influence customer decisions, from choice of car brand and model, through to aftersales. In fact, our research shows 86 per cent of customers say they would change brands to achieve a more sustainable aftersales choice, so we know environmentally conscious decisions extend beyond the vehicle purchase stage, and driver better customer satisfaction. Our goal is to reduce carbon emissions, conserve water, and offer sustainability-conscious customers a greener choice.” Volkswagen Group retailers currently use more than 200 million gallons of water on car washes per year, equating to over 300 metric tonnes of CO2e. The initiative has so far saved five million gallons of water resulting in an estimated reduced CO2e impact of 6 metric tonnes. Car wash swap is just one of many ‘goTOzero’ initiatives aimed at minimising the impact of our operations on the environment. Article source: www.vwpress.co.uk