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Volkswagen

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Volkswagen (VW) is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany, the core of VAG, one of the world's four biggest car producers.

The origins of the company date back to 1930s Nazi Germany. Hitler's desire that almost anybody should be able to afford a car fitted with a proposal by car designer Ferdinand Porsche (1875-1952). The intention was that ordinary working Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen (German: Kraft durch Freude = strength through joy), appeared from 1936 onwards. The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. However the new factory (in the new town of Kdf-Stadt, purpose-built for the factory workers), had only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. Consequently the first volume-produced versions of the car were military vehicles, the jeep-like Kübelwagen and the amphibious Schwimmwagen.

The company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916-2000). After the war he was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory which the Americans had captured. He persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1000 cars a month. The car and its town changed their Nazi-era names, to Volkswagen and Wolfsburg.

In 1949 Hirst left the company -- re-formed as a trust controlled by the West German government -- in the hands of Heinrich Nordhoff. Apart from the introduction of the "Type 2" commercial vehicle (van, pickup and camper), he pursued the one-model policy until his death in 1968. Production of the "Type 1" VW Beetle (German: 'Käfer', US: 'Bug', French: 'Coccinelle') increased dramatically over the years, reaching 1 million in 1954. During the 1960s and early 1970s, although the car was getting out-dated, American exports, innovative advertising and a growing reputation for reliability helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous record holder, the Ford Model-T: by 1973 total production was over 16 million.

Production of the Beetle at the Wolfsburg factory switched to the VW Golf in 1974. This was a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways, as well as its angular styling (by the Italian Giorgetto Guigiaro). Its design followed trends for small family cars set by the 1959 Mini and 1972 Renault 5 -- the Golf had a transversely mounted, water-cooled engine in the front, and had a hatch-back, a format that has dominated the market segment ever since. Beetle production continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico.

Since soon after the introduction of the Golf, VW has offered a range of models much like other large European car-makers. The Polo, a smaller car introduced around the same time as the Golf, the coupés Scirocco and Corrado, and the larger Passat saloon have been the most significant. In 1998 VW launched the New Beetle, a "retro"-themed car with a resemblance to the original Beetle but based on the Golf -- this has been popular in the USA but less so in Europe. In 2002 VW announced two models taking it into market segments new to the company: the Phaeton luxury saloon, and the Touareg sports-utility vehicle.

Like its competitors the Mini and the Citroen 2CV, the original-shape Beetle long outlasted predictions of its lifespan. More so than those cars, it maitains a very strong following worldwide, being regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement. By 2002 there had been over 21 million produced. Production continues in Mexico.

The company has had a close relationship with Porsche, the Stuttgart-based sportscar manufacturer founded in 1947 by Ferry Porsche, son of the designer of the original Volkswagen. The first Porsche cars, the 1948 Porsche 356, used many Volkswagen components including a tuned engine, gearbox and suspension. Later collaborations include the 1969/1970 VW-Porsche 914, the Porsche 924 (which used many Audi components and was built at the Audi factory), and the Porsche Cayenne (which shares many components with VW's Touareg.

In 1992 leadership of the Volkswagen Group went to Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche. In 2002 former BMW head Bernd Pischetsrieder took over.

Volkswagen is part of the Volkswagen group (VAG), along with:

  • Audi -- bought from Daimler-Benz in 1964-1966
  • NSU -- bought in 1969, a brand not used since 1977
  • SEAT -- majority owned since 1986
  • Skoda -- bought in 1991
  • Bentley -- bought the Rolls-Royce car company from Vickers in 1998, excluding the right to use the Rolls-Royce brand name
  • Bugatti -- name bought in 1998
  • Lamborghini -- bought in 1998
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