- Andrew McMains and Eleftheria Parpis

Volkswagen of America has selected IPG's Deutsch/LA in Marina del Rey, Calif., to handle creative duties on its ad account, the client has confirmed. Account revenue is estimated at more than $15 million.

The selection came after VW narrowed the field in its review to just two shops. The runner-up was Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco.

"Deutsch/LA proved they have a firm grasp on how to manage the complex challenges we face in achieving our significant growth objectives," said Tim Ellis, client vp, marketing, in a statement. "Of equal importance, they inspired us with a big, compelling, creative idea that will energize and motivate our passionate base as well as attract a broader group of people who have thus far not considered Volkswagen as a relevant choice."

Added Eric Hirshberg, co-CEO/CCO of Deutsch LA: "Volkswagen probably has the best 50-year portfolio of advertising that exists. And as far as the other agencies in the review, we felt like we were up against Mount Rushmore. The fact that they chose us to carry on this legacy is simply humbling."

Four shops made final presentations to about nine client executives on Monday and Tuesday at the carmaker's U.S. headquarters in Herndon, Va. The others were Omnicom Group's DDB of New York and independent Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.

Each agency got three hours to present its creative ideas. DDB and Goodby pitched on Monday and Wieden and Deutsch on Tuesday, according to sources. Hirshberg and co-CEO Mike Sheldon led Deutsch's winning pitch.

The winner succeeds MDC Partners' Crispin, Porter + Bogusky in Miami, which did not defend. Media duties at WPP Group's MediaCom in New York were not in play.

Roth Associates in New York helped manage the search.

VW's major media spending exceeded $200 million last year and totaled nearly $125 million in the first eight months of 2009, according to Nielsen. Those figures don't include online spending.

See also:

"Carmakers Change Rules of the Game"

"VW Prepares to Unpimp Its Ride"