History of Volkswagen

In 1933, Adolf Hitler commissioned the famous designer Ferdinand Porsche and Jacob Werlin, one of the directors of the Daimler-Benz concern, to create a people’s car that could satisfy all the needs of an ordinary buyer, while the cost of the model should not exceed one thousand Reichsmarks. Thus, the history of the Volkswagen concern began, which got its name from the German “Volks-Wagen”, that is, the people’s car. Jacob Werlin put forward a proposal that it was Dr. Porsche who would develop the model, and Daimler-Benz would be responsible for the technical side of the issue, providing its own production facilities in the same way. The people’s car was based on the Porsche Typ 60 model. So, the first prototype of the model saw the light in 1934, and mass production of the car began 4 years later.

In 1937, the Volkswagen company was founded, which was to become a symbol of the new Germany. In the shortest possible time, an ultra-modern plant was built in the city of Wolfsburg, which was laid down for the workers of the new enterprise. In 1938, army versions of the car were introduced, called the Volkswagen Type 82 and 85. In general, the people’s car formed the basis of a whole model range, taking a leading position in the automotive market in Germany, Austria and Holland, and the selling price of the basic version was 1550 Reichsmarks. In addition, during the years of the Second World War, more than 30 thousand amphibians based on the people’s car, which were also developed by Ferdinand Porsche, were produced at the factories of the Daimler concern.

However, in 1945, after the overthrow of Hitler and the end of the war, Ferdinand Porsche was imprisoned, and the city of Wolfsburg was in the British zone of occupation, which led to significant changes in the leadership of the Volkswagen concern. However, before 1948, the British army managed to get about 20 thousand copies of various modifications of the people’s car for their own needs. In 1949, full control over the Volkswagen concern was transferred to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, which was forced to start exporting brand cars to other countries. Only in 1955, the model received the name Volkswagen Beetle, and began to be produced in the original, civilian modification. In 1950, with the money of investors from Holland, German brand engineers began work on the creation of a full-size minibus, called the Volkswagen Bulli. In 1953-1959, Volkswagen assembly plants were opened in Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Mexico.

By 1960, 9 new models of the Volkswagen brand were introduced, which were based on the Volkswagen Beetle platform. Thanks to the use of a base that has been proven over the years, the new modifications were completely devoid of shortcomings, which significantly reduced the cost of producing new cars, which only needed to replace the body and power unit for certain needs of the target buyer.

The next important step in the history of the German automobile company was 1965, when the Volkswagen concern bought the Audi brand from Daimler-Benz, incorporating it into its structure by combining the top management and design headquarters. This is how the Volkswagen-Audi company appeared, later renamed the Volkswagen Group.

In 1969, after a small powertrain company called NSU became part of the Volkswagen concern, the company’s management decided to move away from the classic Beetle layout proposed by Ferdinand Porsche. So a year later, the first front-wheel drive cars of the Volkswagen brand were presented, in which the power unit was located in front. In parallel with this, active work was carried out to create the first joint car with the Audi brand, which was the compact Volkswagen Golf hatchback in 1974, the progenitor of the class of cars of the same name. The model was distinguished not only by its compact dimensions, but also by a good combination of convenience, dynamism and lightness, which allowed it to become a new sales leader in the German automotive market.

In the same year, the last copies of the Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line at the company’s factories in Wolfsburg, but their production was continued by the Volkswagen brand plants in Brazil and Mexico. In Europe, it was replaced by two models at once – Passat and Golf. In just 2.5 years of sales of the Golf compact hatchback, more than one million cars were sold, which made the German brand one of the leaders in the European car industry, and the profits made formed the basis for creating a new generation of Volkswagen production facilities. In 1975, in the wake of Golf’s success, its simplified modification, the Volkswagen Polo, was also presented, under the hood of which there was a 40 horsepower power unit. In addition, in 1976, a sedan version of the Volkswagen Polo was developed on the basis of the Audi 50.

In 1983, the next update of the Volkswagen lineup began, so the second-generation Golf and Jetta models were introduced, a compact sedan built on the basis of a small hatchback, with the same range of engines, but in a completely redesigned body design. A new generation of the Volkswagen Scirocco sports model was also presented, under the hood of which engines with a capacity of 120 to 200 horsepower are located.

In 1982, the leadership of the German concern signed an agreement on close cooperation with the Spanish automaker SEAT, which was experiencing financial difficulties, but successfully kept afloat by producing inexpensive cars popular among ordinary buyers. However, financial problems still broke the Spanish brand. This led in 1986 to the transfer of a controlling stake in 51% of the company’s shares under the control of the Volkswagen brand, which paid all the debts of the SEAT company, and also included it in its composition, using it as production facilities to produce its models in the automotive market. Spain and Portugal. Also in 1982, the world’s first five-cylinder engines were introduced, installed on the second generation Volkswagen Passat.

In 1988, the Volkswagen Corrado model was introduced, which took the place of the Scirocco model among the company’s current cars, and the Scirocco itself was discontinued. Successful financial performance and consistently high sales of Volkswagen Group cars allowed the management to think again about acquiring a new division that would help the German brand to occupy new niches in the automotive market.

In 1990, Europe was hit hard by the economic crisis, but due to the right strategy and huge profits, the Volkswagen concern remained one of the few industrial enterprises on the European continent that did not suffer a significant decrease in demand for its products and a sharp drop in profits. However, the Czech company Skoda, which specializes in the creation of inexpensive cars for the Eastern European market, was much less fortunate, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Before the engineers of the German concern, the prospect of creating another lineup of cars loomed, which led to the complete absorption of the Czech manufacturer Skoda, and for the Volkswagen company, access to the automotive market of Eastern Europe was opened.

At the same time, another eminent brand, Porsche, also falls under the control of the Volkswagen concern, which is rapidly suffering economic collapse due to spending on modernization and expansion of production that exceeds income. As a result, for the next 16 years, the Porsche brand was completely controlled by Volkswagen, another brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche. However, in 2007, after the correct distribution of excess profits, the Porsche management company was formed, which completely bought out the Volkswagen concern, giving it full control over the activities of the Porsche AG sports car company.

It is noteworthy that it was in the 90s that the designers of the Volkswagen company began to conduct their experiments on creating a universal platform for the construction of various cars of the same class, and the first experiments were carried out on the Golf, Bora, Audi 50 and SEAT Albea models. Thanks to the use of a single platform, the concern no longer needed to conduct lengthy field tests of each of the models, and the cost per vehicle was reduced by 22%.

The next turning point in the history of the German concern Volkswagen was 1998, when three brands of premium cars – Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti – passed under the control of one of the largest automakers in the world at once. A year later, under the control of Audi, which became an independent division of the Volkswagen brand, the Lamborghini brand was transferred, which received a serious technical basis for the production of new sports cars. In the new hierarchy of the German concern, the Bentley brand was assigned the share of one of the largest players in the luxury car market, due to the fact that, in addition to all the property of the English brand, the production facilities of Rolls-Royce also fell under the control of Volkswagen. The production of a number of cars began, which, without too much modesty, began to be called cars for millionaires.

At the same time, the most difficult task was set for the French brand Bugatti, whose engineers were instructed in 2000 to create the most powerful and fastest car in history, using all the latest developments of the Audi company. After 5 years, a chapter called the Bugatti Veyron was inscribed in the history of the German concern, and a car with a power unit with a capacity of one thousand horsepower became the first hypercar in history, setting a number of speed records.

The 2000s were also marked by the mass participation of the Volkswagen concern in motorsport competitions. Between 2000 and 2013, the Audi and Bentley factory teams won 11 victories in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans marathon, setting numerous records and providing the concern with the most advanced developments in the field of kinetic energy recovery, aerodynamics and selective transmissions with double clutch.

Also, in 2002, the first off-road cars of the Volkswagen brand were presented, for the promotion of which it was decided to start performing in the legendary Paris-Dakar rally, where Porsche managed to win two victories in the middle of the 20th century. Racing prototypes of the Volkswagen Touareg model won first places in the Paris-Dakar races of 2009-2011, displacing more experienced competitors from the leading positions. In addition, these developments allowed Volkswagen to begin mass production of all-wheel drive chassis for light hatchbacks and sedans. And since 2011, it was decided to start competing with the Škoda factory team in the World Rally Championship, where in 2013 a Volkswagen prototype driven by French driver Sebastian Ogier won the individual competition, breaking the dominance of the Citroen brand, which lasted almost 10 years. .

By 2012, all cars of the Volkswagen concern were modernized, and the total number of sales markets reached 150. In addition, the company is actively investing in developing its business in China, the third largest automotive market in the world.

In 2013, the Volkswagen e-Golf was released – an electric version of the “C” class hatchback. This is the most environmentally friendly version in the history of the Golf model. The car is equipped with climate control with the possibility of heating and cooling in the parking lot, a multimedia system with navigation, heated windshield and LED headlights. Volkswagen Golf GTE is a class C front-wheel drive hatchback with a hybrid power plant. The world premiere of the model took place at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2014. The Volkswagen Golf GTE is driven by a power plant consisting of a 150-horsepower turbocharged gasoline engine with a displacement of 1.4 liters and an electric motor with a capacity of 102 liters. With. In 2015, a restyled version of the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid was released. This is a class “C” sedan with a hybrid power plant. The hybrid component left a certain imprint on the performance and design of the Jett. The electric motor and batteries completely increased the mass of the car, so optimizing the aerodynamics of the sedan was extremely important.