Volkswagen 2009 Models Feature ESP as Standard Equipment

Volkswagen will be including its Electronic Stabilization Program as standard equipment on every 2009 model.

This is an industry first.

Volkswagen is the first non-luxury manufacturer to include ESP at no additional cost on every vehicle it sells in the USA – passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and minivans.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires all vehicles produded for the 2012 model year and after to have such systems. Volkswagen is beating the deadline by three years.

NHTSA predicts nearly 10,000 lives could be saved each year if all automakers included electronic stabilization systems as standard equipment.

Stability control systems help you keep control in dangerous driving situations -- what the car makers call 'dynamic conditions' Like systems from other manufacturers, Volkswagen's ESP works in conjunction with the anti-lock braking system (ABS), anti-slip regulation and additional sensors.

Just so you know -- Volkswagen of America, Inc. is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars and Europe's largest automaker.

Volkswagen models include the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Eos, and Touareg SUV. And the luxury sedan Phaeton, which is not sold in the USA.