It is like the fable of the tortoise and the hare. The Schaeffler Group will welcome record breaker Rainer Zietlow in nearly every country he will traverse during his two-part natural gas marathon tour. Rainer Zietlow - a globetrotter who has earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records - will visit the Schaeffler Group headquarters in Herzogenaurach to practically mark the beginning of his 40,000-kilometer journey stretching initially from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and then from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska. Four weeks after the start of the tour in Europe, Rainer Zietlow will visit the Korean and Japanese locations of the Schaeffler Group with his Volkswagen Caddy Maxi EcoFuel.
In his circumnavigation of the globe in a natural-gas-powered vehicle from October 2006 to April 2007, Rainer Zietlow visited Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cleveland and several other of the over 180 Schaeffler Group locations worldwide. "Rainer Zietlow's marathon tours not only prove the reliability of technology, but also provide an opportunity for us to present our worldwide network of companies", says Detlef Sieverdingbeck, Director of Corporate Communication at the Schaeffler Group. "The Schaeffler Group develops and manufactures high-precision products for everything that moves and is a renowned partner to automotive manufacturers. Our global setup ensures customer proximity and thus fast reactions."
The most challenging stage of the tour on Russia's Amur Transcontinental Road, however, will be at the expense of speed as roughly 2,000 of the total length of 10,000 kilometers are unpaved. This will certainly be a thing of the past by the end of October when Rainer Zietlow visits the Korean Schaeffler locations in Changwon and Jeonju. Two days later, the Volkswagen Caddy EcoFuel is scheduled to arrive in Yokohama. Schaeffler Group Automotive operates a research and development center in Japan. One day later, on November 3, 2009, the Eurasia Tour will be over with Rainer Zietlow's arrival in Tokyo.
"I will complete my series of visits to INA, LuK and FAG locations during my subsequent tour through large parts of South and North America", says Rainer Zietlow. He will frequently upload photos, diary entries and videos to the Internet during his journey. Detailed information about the marathon tour from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and the journey through South and North America from January to April can be found at www.ecofuel-eurasia.com and www.ecofuel-transamerica.com.
His car, a volume-produced Volkswagen Caddy EcoFuel, is also described in more detail on the websites. In addition to the standard equipment, the car is fitted with a lightweight front bullbar and supplementary gas tanks for the far reaches of Siberia and Central America. The standard Volkswagen Caddy also contains a large number of parts produced by the Schaeffler Group. Examples are clutches and dual mass flywheels from LuK, wheel bearings from FAG and various engine components of the INA brand.
In his circumnavigation of the globe in a natural-gas-powered vehicle from October 2006 to April 2007, Rainer Zietlow visited Sydney, Buenos Aires, Cleveland and several other of the over 180 Schaeffler Group locations worldwide. "Rainer Zietlow's marathon tours not only prove the reliability of technology, but also provide an opportunity for us to present our worldwide network of companies", says Detlef Sieverdingbeck, Director of Corporate Communication at the Schaeffler Group. "The Schaeffler Group develops and manufactures high-precision products for everything that moves and is a renowned partner to automotive manufacturers. Our global setup ensures customer proximity and thus fast reactions."
The most challenging stage of the tour on Russia's Amur Transcontinental Road, however, will be at the expense of speed as roughly 2,000 of the total length of 10,000 kilometers are unpaved. This will certainly be a thing of the past by the end of October when Rainer Zietlow visits the Korean Schaeffler locations in Changwon and Jeonju. Two days later, the Volkswagen Caddy EcoFuel is scheduled to arrive in Yokohama. Schaeffler Group Automotive operates a research and development center in Japan. One day later, on November 3, 2009, the Eurasia Tour will be over with Rainer Zietlow's arrival in Tokyo.
"I will complete my series of visits to INA, LuK and FAG locations during my subsequent tour through large parts of South and North America", says Rainer Zietlow. He will frequently upload photos, diary entries and videos to the Internet during his journey. Detailed information about the marathon tour from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and the journey through South and North America from January to April can be found at www.ecofuel-eurasia.com and www.ecofuel-transamerica.com.
His car, a volume-produced Volkswagen Caddy EcoFuel, is also described in more detail on the websites. In addition to the standard equipment, the car is fitted with a lightweight front bullbar and supplementary gas tanks for the far reaches of Siberia and Central America. The standard Volkswagen Caddy also contains a large number of parts produced by the Schaeffler Group. Examples are clutches and dual mass flywheels from LuK, wheel bearings from FAG and various engine components of the INA brand.
