interior view of the autotuerme ('auto towers') of volkswagen's autostadt manufacturing facility in wolfsburg, germany


spanning approximately 16 stories, two silos are used as a kind of temporary vertical parking lot
at volkswagen's production facility and autostadt visitor attraction in wolfsburg, germany.
the 48-meter tall silos are composed of glass and galvanized steel, illuminated by night. 
a conveyor belt system transports finished cars directly from the adjacent manufacturing plant
to the towers' basement. from there, they are lifted into position via mechanical arms that rotate
and run along a central beam, moving vehicles in and out of their bays at a speed of two meters per second.

the facility is used to temporarily store new cars that are to be picked up in person at the autostadt customer center.
indeed, an underground tunnel connects the two buildings, and the car rolls along an internal track to arrive first
to be fitted with license plates and then to the waiting owner. each silo fits 400 cars at a time, tending to deliver
about 600 vehicles to customers each day.



head-on view of a vehicle being transposed



view from above
image courtesy motortrend



visitors may take a special glass elevator to travel up the silos