General Information
Volkswagen AG is a German automotive corporation that produces passenger cars, trucks, and minibuses. The company's head office is located in Wolfsburg.
History of the Corporation
In 1934, the renowned German designer Ferdinand Porsche, founder of Porsche AG, received an order from the National Socialist government of Germany to create a modern passenger car. By 1935, such a car was assembled and named "Volkswagen," which translates from German as "people's car." After two years of testing, the VW30 series was launched in 1937, and by 1938 the car had acquired its recognizable appearance. That same year, in a New York Times article, the car was called a "beetle" due to its external resemblance — this nickname stuck and became its hallmark.
On May 26, 1938, construction began in Wolfsburg on Europe's largest Volkswagen automobile plant to produce the "people's car." However, due to the approaching war, production could not be established — only twelve cars were made. During World War II, construction of the plant was halted, and the unfinished enterprise was repurposed for military production.
After the war ended, the plant found itself in the British occupation zone and came under British control. In the autumn of 1945, the British authorities placed an order for 20,000 cars. In 1947, Volkswagen was presented at the export fair in Hanover, where it generated great interest — the first foreign order came from Holland for a thousand cars, and in 1948 orders followed from Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, and other countries.
In January 1948, the company's management changed: Heinrich Nordhoff became the general director. The new management consisted of certified engineers with international experience working at automobile plants. With their arrival, the car was improved. By the end of 1948, exports amounted to about 50,000 cars, and about 15,000 were sold on the domestic market. On September 6, 1949, the plant was fully transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany.
In 1955, the millionth Volkswagen was produced. At that time, a popular phrase emerged in Germany: "He is a member of my family," associated with this car. Thanks to its reliability and affordable price, the car was already sold in 150 countries worldwide, and foreign subsidiary companies appeared.
In 1955, the first modification of the standard Volkswagen-1200 appeared — the Karmann-Ghia sports coupe. The body was designed by the Italian company Ghia, and assembly was carried out at the German bodywork firm Karmann in Osnabrück. In 1961, the program was expanded with the Volkswagen-1500 with a sedan body and an engine of increased displacement, on the basis of which the Karmann-Ghia coupe and convertible were produced.
In 1965, Volkswagen bought Audi from Daimler-Benz, forming the Volkswagen-Audi concern, known as VAG. Later, the Spanish Seat and the Czech Skoda joined it. Currently, Audi AG is a subsidiary of the concern with full independence.
The first result of the merger in 1968 was the VW-411, which buyers received with restraint. In 1969, after the acquisition of NSU, the first front-wheel-drive Volkswagen appeared — the "K-70" model. In 1969–1975, together with Porsche, the Volkswagen-Porsche-914 sports cars were produced. In 1970, the VW-181 with an open body appeared, reminiscent of army vehicles, and in 1979 its development became the all-wheel-drive military vehicle Iltis.
The progenitor of the new generation is considered to be the front-wheel-drive Passat of 1973, offered in many variants. The Golf I model, which appeared in 1974, turned out to be the most successful: it opened a new stage of competition in the class of compact cars, which began to be called the "golf class." If in 1973–1974 the concern's losses exceeded 800 million German marks, then in 1975, due to high demand for new models, all costs were covered. Three years after the launch of the Golf I, the millionth car of this brand was produced. In 1979, the Golf convertible appeared, which was in high demand.
At the beginning of 1975, the "younger brother" of the Golf was introduced — the three-door front-wheel-drive Polo, structurally similar to the Audi-50. The inexpensive and practical Polo became popular and strengthened the company's financial position. In 1983, the Golf II was released, and in 1991 — the Golf III, which upheld the model's high reputation. Over 23 years since the start of production, 17 million Golfs of three generations were produced. In 1995–1996, the Golf III led sales in Europe. In 1997, the Golf IV debuted, with more than 60,000 orders received in the first days after its release.
In 1981, the Passat and Scirocco were modernized, and a year later, the Santana sedan with a 5-cylinder gasoline engine appeared based on the Passat. In 1988–1995, the three-door Corrado coupe — the successor to the Scirocco — was produced. The high-capacity Sharan station wagon has been produced since 1995 in 5–7-seat versions on front- and all-wheel-drive chassis. In 1996, at the Geneva Motor Show, VW presented the new Beetle. Volkswagen also acted as the general sponsor of the European and Japanese tours of the Bon Jovi group and released a special Golf Bon Jovi model.
The fifth-generation Passat family was shown in 1996. Unlike the cars produced since 1988, they are again unified with the Audi A4 and A6 models, which allowed the use of more powerful longitudinally mounted Audi powertrains. The Passat is produced only with sedan and five-door Variant station wagon bodies.
In 1998, Volkswagen acquired the rights to the name "Bugatti" and took control of "Rolls-Royce" and "Bentley Motors Cars." In 1999, the comfortable Bora sedan model was released. In 2004, the Golf family was expanded with the Golf Plus, presented in Bologna and becoming a popular family car. In 2005, the Volkswagen Crafter replaced the Volkswagen LT. In 2006, the Volkswagen Passat B6 was recognized as the best car in Europe at the Geneva Motor Show according to the Autobild group of publications. At the Geneva Motor Show, the Blue Motion initiative was also presented, distinguished by efficiency and care for the environment, and the Cross series was opened — the first Cross Polo, Cross Golf, and Cross Touran were released.
Today, the Volkswagen concern is one of the largest in the world in terms of sales volume, with factories in 15 countries. In addition to passenger cars, the enterprise produces trucks and minibuses.
Volkswagen in Ukraine
Since December 1993, LLC "German Motors" has been the first official dealer of Volkswagen AG on the Ukrainian automobile market. The official Volkswagen dealer network covers the entire territory of Ukraine. In 2003, the company "Eurocar" and the Volkswagen Group signed a Protocol on permission for serial production of VW Passat cars at the "Eurocar" plant in Solomonovo (Zakarpattia region).
