HAMBURG, Germany - Volkswagen, Europe's leading car maker, is interested in building a new "Pope-mobile", a car especially designed and built for the pope, a company spokesman said on Thursday.
Confirming a corresponding report in the mass-circulation daily Bild, a VW spokesman said that the car maker would be interested in building a car for Pope Benedict XVI when he attends the World Youth Day celebrations in August in Cologne.
VW would be one of the sponsors for the event, making available at least 100 vehicles.
"If a special vehicle is required for the pope, we will build it," the spokesman said on the sidelines of the group's annual shareholder meeting here.
If VW really were to secure such a deal, the bullet-proof "Pope-mobile" would be based more on the group's luxury Touareg or Phaeton models rather than the mass-production Polo, the spokesman said.
He declined to give any indication of the price such a car, saying it would be a one-off, tailored especially to the pope's requirements.
Mercedes-Benz, part of rival car maker DaimlerChrysler, built the bullet-proof "Pope-mobile" for Pope John Paul II.
04/21/2005 11:22 GMT