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VOLKSWAGEN
Volkswagen AG, or VW, is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the core of Volkswagen Group and is the world's fourth largest car producer after Toyota, GM and Ford, respectively.
The name means "people's car" in German. Its German tagline is "Aus Liebe zum Automobil", which is translated as "Out of love for the car".
History
Origins in 1930s Germany
In 1933, Ferdinand Porsche made changes to his original 1931 design to make it more suited for the working man. In 1938 Kdf-Wagen, became known as the VW Käfer - or Beetle. The Beetle became known for better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease-of-use, and economically efficient repairs and parts. The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. Erwin Komenda, the longstanding AUTO UNION chief designer, developed the car body of the prototype, which was recognizably the Beetle we know today. It was one of the first to be designed with the aid of a wind tunnel.
The company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. In April 1945, Wolfsburg and its heavily bombed VW factory were captured by the Americans, and subsequently handed over to the British, within whose occupation zone the town and factory fell. The factory was placed under the control of Major Hirst.
Hirst painted one of the factory's cars green and demonstrated it to British Army headquarters. Short of light transport, in September 1945, the British Army was persuaded to place a vital order for 20,000. The first few hundred cars went to personnel from the occupying forces, and to the German Post Office. Some UK service personnel were allowed to take their Beetles back to the UK when they were demobilized, and one of the very first Beetles brought back in that way is still owned by the original proprietor of the UK's first official VW Importer, Colborne Carages of Ripley in Surrey. By 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month, a remarkable feat considering the factory was still in disrepair: the damaged roof and windows meant rain stopped production; the steel to make the cars had to be bartered for new vehicles. It was still unclear what was to become of the factory. It was offered to representatives from the British, American and French motor industries. Famously, all rejected it. Hirst was told that the project would fail within two years, and that the car "is quite unattractive to the average motorcar buyer, is too ugly and too noisy ... If you think you're going to build cars in this place, you're a bloody fool, young man." Ford representatives were equally critical: the car was "not worth a d___." Henry Ford II, the son of Edsel Ford, did reportedly look at the possibility of taking over the VW factory but dismissed the idea as soon as he looked up Wolfsburg on the map.
From 1948, Volkswagen became a very important element, symbolically and economically, of West German regeneration. In 1949 Hirst left the company, now re-formed as a trust controlled by the West German government.
Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949. It only sold two units in America that first year. Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 to standardize sales and service in the U.S.
Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle increased dramatically over the years, the total reaching one million in 1955. Sales soared — due in part to the famous advertising campaigns by New York advertising agency, Doyle, Dane and Bernbach. Led by art director Helmut Krone and copywriters Julian Koenig and Bob Levinson, Volkswagen ads became as popular as the car, using crisp layouts and witty copy to lure the younger, sophisticated consumers with whom the car became associated. Despite the fact it was almost universally known as the Beetle, it was never officially labeled as such, instead referred to as the Type 1. The first reference to the name Beetle occurred in U.S. advertising in 1968, but not until 1998 and the Golf-based New Beetle would the name be adopted by Wolfsburg.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, although the car was becoming outdated, 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.
VW expanded their product line in 1961 with the introduction of several Type 3 models, which were essentially body style variations (Fastback, Notchback, Squareback) based on Type 1 mechanical underpinnings, and again in 1969 with the Type 4 (also known as the 411 and 412) models, which differed substantially from previous models with the notable introduction of unibody construction, a fully automatic transmission, electronic fuel injection, and a sturdier powerplant. Volkswagen added a "Super Beetle" (the Type 113) to its lineup in 1971. The Type 113 differed from the standard Beetle in its use of a McPherson strut front suspension instead of the usual torsion bars. Also the nose of the car was stretched 2 inches to allow the spare tire to lay down flat, and the combination of these two features significantly increased the usable trunk space. Despite the Super Beetle's popularity with Volkswagen customers, purists preferred the standard Beetle with its less pronounced nose and its original torsion bar suspension. In 1973, Volkswagen introduced the military-themed Thing (Type 181) in America, recalling the wartime Type 81. The military version was produced for the NATO-era German army (Bundeswehr) during the cold war years of 1970 to 1979. The US Thing version only lasted two years, 1973 and 1974, due at least in part to Ralph Nader's automobile safety campaigns.
In 1964, Volkswagen acquired Audi/Auto Union. The Ingolstadt-based firm had the necessary expertise in front wheel drive and water-cooled engines that Volkswagen needed to produce a credible Beetle successor. Audi influences paved the way for this new generation of Volkswagens, known as the Polo, Golf and Passat.
The Passat, introduced in 1973, was again simply a fastback version of the Audi 80, using identical body and mechanical parts, and the Audi 80 was later produced on the same line in Wolfsburg as the VW Passat. Production of the Beetle at the Wolfsburg factory switched to the VW Golf in 1974, marketed in the United States as the Volkswagen Rabbit until 1985 and as the Golf until 2006, when the Rabbit name was re-introduced. This was a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways, both mechanically as well as visually (its angular styling was designed by the Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro). The Golf had a transversely mounted, water-cooled engine in the front, driving the front wheels, and had a hatchback, a format that has dominated the market segment ever since.
While Volkswagen's range of cars soon became similar to that of other large European automakers, the Golf has been the mainstay of the Volkswagen lineup since its introduction, and the mechanical basis for several other cars of the company. There have been five generations of the Volkswagen Golf, the first of which was produced from the summer of 1974 until the end of 1983, sold as the Rabbit in the United States. Its chassis also spawned the Scirocco sport coupe, Jetta sedan, and Cabriolet convertible. North American production of the Rabbit commenced at a factory in Pennsylvania in 1978. The second-generation Golf hatchback/Jetta sedan ran from late 1983 to late 1991, and the North American version produced in Pennsylvania went on sale at the start of the 1985 model year.
Motor Trend named the GTI its Car of the Year for 1985, and Volkswagen rose in the J.D. Power buyer satisfaction ratings to eighth place in 1985, up from 22nd a year earlier. VW's American sales broke 200,000 in 1985 and 1986. Chairman Carl Hahn expanded the company by purchasing a greater share of the Spanish car maker SEAT, which VW bought outright in 1990. The Czech car maker Skoda was acquired the following year.
In 1991, Volkswagen launched the third-generation Golf, garnering the European Car of the Year for 1992. The late 1990s saw Volkswagen move upmarket, with Seat and Skoda now occupying what was once VW's core market. The first tangible evidence of this was the fifth-generation Passat in 1996 with its high-quality interior trim and standards of build quality which were demonstrably a cut above contemporary products from Ford and Opel.
Volkswagen's fortunes in North America improved once the third-generation Golf and Jetta models became available there. Sharp advertising and savvy promotional stunts, like including Trek bicycles and accompanying bike racks with a limited edition of the 1996 Jetta sedan, were credited for the firm's recovery in the U.S., but the introductions of the New Beetle and the fifth-generation Passat were a major boost to the brand.
Volkswagen began introducing an array of new models after Bernd Pischetsrieder became Volkswagen Group CEO (responsible for all Group brands) in 2002. The fifth generation Volkswagen Golf was launched in 2004, and became runner-up in the 2004 European Car of the Year. The GTI, a "hot hatchback" performance version of the Golf, boasted a 2.0 L Turbocharged direct injection engine. VW began marketing the Golf under the Rabbit name once again in the U.S. in June 2006. (The GTI had arrived to North America four months earlier.) The fifth-generation Jetta, and the performance version, the GLI, are also available in the United States. The sixth-generation Passat and the fifth-generation Jetta both debuted in 2005, and VW has announced plans to expand its lineup further by bringing back the Scirocco by 2008. Other models in Wolfgang Bernhard's (Volkswagen brand CEO) "product offensive" include the Tiguan, a mid-sized SUV in 2008 and a Passat Coupé. In November 2006, Bernd Pischetsrieder announced his resignation as Volkswagen Group CEO and was replaced by Audi worldwide CEO Martin Winterkorn at the beginning of 2007. Winterkorn is credited with making Audi a challenger to the dominance of BMW and Mercedes and his design-led strategy has led to Audi being considered one of the most important brands in the world.
In conjunction with the introduction of new models, production location of Volkswagen vehicles also underwent great change. The new models and investments in manufacturing improvements were noticed immediately by automotive critics. Favorable reviews for VW's newest cars include the GTI being named by Consumer Reports as the top sporty car under $25,000, one of Car and Driver magazines "10 Best" for 2007, and Automobile Magazine's 2007 Car of the Year. J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study scored Volkswagen fourteenth overall with strong performances by its new Jetta and Passat models.
Volkswagen is recognized as one of the leading small diesel engine manufacturers, and is partnering with Mercedes and other companies to market BlueTec clean diesel technology. Volkswagen has offered a number of its vehicles with a TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) engine, which lends class-leading fuel economy to several models. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, four of the ten most fuel efficient vehicles available for sale in the U.S. in 2004 were powered by Volkswagen diesel engines. They were a three-way tie for 8th (TDI Beetle, TDI Golf, TDI Jetta) and ninth, the TDI Jetta Wagon. As of 2007, VW has not yet offered a gas-electric hybrid powertrain (though a diesel-electric hybrid 5th generation Jetta was produced as a test vehicle). In addition, all VAG TDI diesel engines produced since 1996 can be driven on 100% biodiesel fuel. A new lineup of diesel engines compatible to U.S. standards are due for 2008.
Volkswagen long resisted adding an utility vehicle to its lineup, but it finally relented with the introduction of the Touareg in the early 2000s, sharing major components with the Porsche Cayenne sport utility vehicle. VW plans to add a compact SUV with styling influences from its "Concept A" concept vehicle. On July 20, 2006, VW announced that the new vehicle would be called the Tiguan.
When Martin Winterkorn became the eighth postwar CEO of Volkswagen, the company made several personnel changes in Wolfsburg. Other key personnel changes were made at Volkswagen of America in Auburn Hills, Michigan, as VW tries to continue increasing U.S. sales.
The German state of Lower Saxony owns significant stock in VW, as does sportscar manufacturer Porsche.Volkswagen has always had a close relationship with Porsche, with the first Porsche car, the Porsche 64 of 1938, using many components from the Volkswagen Beetle. The two companies collaborated in 1969 to make the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6. The 914-6 had a 6-cylinder Porsche engine and the standard 914 had a 4-cylinder Volkswagen engine. And also in 1976 they collaborated with the Porsche 912E (USA only) and the Porsche 924, which used many Audi components and was built at an Audi Neckarsulm factory. The Porsche Cayenne, introduced in 2002, shares its entire chassis with the VW Touareg, which is built at the Volkswagen factory in Bratislava. In late 2005, Porsche took an 18.65% stake in VW, further cementing their relationship and preventing a takeover of Volkswagen, which was rumored at the time. On March 26, 2007, Porsche took its holding of Volkswagen shares to 30.9%, triggering a takeover bid under German law. Porsche formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to takeover Volkswagen (it would set its offer price at the lowest possible legal value), but intended the move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake or to stop hedge funds dismantling VW, which is Porsche's most important partner. Porsche's move comes after the European Union moved against a German law that protected VW from takeovers. Under the so-called "Volkswagen Law", any shareholder in VW cannot exercise more than 20% of the firm's voting rights, regardless of their level of stock holding. The European Court of Justice has already indicated that the law probably breaks EU rules, and a full judgment to that effect is expected later in 2007.
Chicagoland and Suburbs Premier Superstore from Glenview to Gurnee and Evanston to Libertyville, we have the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Passat, Jetta, EOS, New Beetle, GTI, R32, Rabbit and Touareg your looking for.
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