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Volkswagen

•  Volkswagen AG is a German automobile group founded in 1937 and based in Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony. It markets many types of vehicles through its automobile brands Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Cupra, Škoda, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Jetta, Bugatti, Ducati motorcycles, and Scania, MAN, Navistar trucks. The group also offers financing, leasing and vehicle fleet management services.

• Volkswagen is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and is part of the Dax index.

• The leading automobile manufacturer in Europe since 1988, between 2018 and 2021 it is the world's leading vehicle manufacturer ahead of Toyota4,5. In 2022, Volkswagen will be the leading German company in terms of turnover and number of employees6.

• Designed by Ferdinand Porsche, a Mercedes-Benz technician, in the 1930s under the Third Reich, the first prototypes of KdF-Wagen (K for Kraft, d for durch, F for Freude which translates as “Strength through joy") were produced in 1936. Production officially began in 1938; it is the VW 1200. Ferdinand Porsche's objective (set by the Nazi government) was to create a car for all German citizens meeting different criteria: the vehicle must not cost much: 1,000 reichsmarks (the official currency of the time) ; it must be capable of carrying 4 to 5 people while reaching 100 km/h; it must be robust, to withstand the rather cold German winters7.

• It should be noted that “if Dr. Porsche met Hitler at the start of the war, it was only to obtain funds to develop a revolutionary racing car project. He did not adhere to Nazi ideology, but only sought to take advantage of his reputation to obtain the financing essential for his work. Unlike his son, Ferdinand Porsche has no political sense. Obsessed with his job as an engineer, he does not ask himself any moral questions. If public subsidies are available, whether it is a racing car or a tank, he simply seeks to be the best8. »

• 1945-1972: success of the Beetle

• After the Second World War, English major Ivan Hirst took over production of the VW 1200 in the factory which was then entrusted to the English army. It will be handed over to the Germans in 19499.

• In the 1950s, VW took off; this model is called Käfer in Germany, Coccinelle in France, Beetle in Great Britain and the United States, Fusca in Brazil, Carocha in Portugal, Vocho in Mexico.

• Production of the VW 1200 reached 3 million copies during the 1960s, it was the best-selling imported model in the United States throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The model was renovated in 1955 with the release of the models Karmann-Ghia coupe and convertible, named after the coachbuilders who designed them (Ghia) and produced them (Karmann). In total, the VW 1200 was sold in 21 million units worldwide, supplanting the previous record held by the Ford T produced in 15 million units.

• In 1961 the VW 1500 was offered, which would be produced in 3 million units between 1961 and 1973. VW bought its compatriots Audi in 1965 and NSU in 1969, and in 1970 offered the VW K70 using an NSU model; it is the first front-wheel drive model from Volkswagen, which thus abandons rear-wheel drive models10.

• 1972-2000: move upmarket of the brand

• The Audi subsidiary launched the Audi 80 in 1972; VW launched the Passat in 1973; in 1974 the Golf and its Scirocco coupe version were released. In 1976, Volkswagen launched its first automobile with a diesel engine11.

Volkswagen

• In 1986, Volkswagen took a 51% stake in Seat12.

• The luxury brands, which arrived at the end of the 1990s within the group, caused it to move away from the original spirit of Volkswagen (Volkswagen literally meaning the people's car in German), the models produced by it no longer being particularly “popular”. For example, the Touareg shares its platform with the Porsche Cayenne.

• The Škoda brand, purchased in 1991 following the fall of the Berlin Wall, allows the group to offer vehicles technically close to Volkswagens, using German components and technologies, but at lower prices, benefiting in particular from significantly lower labor costs in the Czech Republic.

• Skoda should thus make it possible to expand the Volkswagen range towards inexpensive models.

• In 1998, Volkswagen acquired Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini12.

• 2000s: expansion of the group

• On April 22, 2004, the acquisition of LeasePlan, the European leader in long-term vehicle rental, from the Dutch bank ABN AMRO was announced. An acquisition of 2 billion euros that Volkswagen is half responsible for. The manufacturer is joining forces in this operation with the Mubadala group and the Olayan group, which each hold 25% of LeasePlan.

• In July 2004, faced with falling results, the boss of Volkswagen presented his recovery plan and his desire to make savings.[ref. necessary]

• In 2004, the brand recorded an operating loss of 250 million euros and a 30% drop in the group's net profit.

• During 2006, a vast restructuring plan was initiated, which led to the elimination of nearly 20,000 jobs in Germany and the cessation of production of the Golf at the Forest-Brussels site in Belgium.

• During the summer of 2006, Porsche obtained authorization from the German state to take the blocking minority in Volkswagen, thereby taking control of the car manufacturer.

• In November 2006, Martin Winterkorn became the new boss of the brand. Ferdinand Piech.

• The history of the Porsche family and Volkswagen (people's car in German) is closely linked. In the mid-1930s, Adolf Hitler wanted Germans to have access to automobiles via a popular car. It will be the Beetle, one of the best-selling cars in the world (more than 20 million copies), coming from the imagination of Ferdinand Porsche. At that time, the concept of a car for everyone was on the rise. Citroën was working on its 2CV and Fiat, on the 500 Topolino. For almost 25 years, VW almost only built “Coxes”. Then appeared the legendary Combi, dear to the hippies of the 70s, then the Golf in 1974 which met with the success we know today. VW was also one of the first manufacturers to revolutionize the diesel engine with the famous TDI. Today, the VW group, number 1 in Europe, owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat and Skoda brands and is present in all markets on the planet with specific models in China, South Africa and America. from South. Learn more on the official Volkswagen website.

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