The History of Volkswagen
May 16th, 2010What started out a small company designed to make reliable, inexpensive cars affordable by all has, in the years since its founding, become the largest auto manufacturer in Europe. The “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH” was founded in 1937 and began construction on a new automobile designed by Ferdinand Porsche. By late 1938 the company was renamed as “Volkswagenwerk GmbH.” The factory was located in Wolfsburg.
Barely started, World War II interrupted the automobile production on the Volkswagen. The factory was converted to weapons manufacturing for the duration using forced labor, POW’s, and concentration camp victims. Despite the depredations of war and the military applications it had been put to, the Volkswagen plant was spared. In mid 1945 it was placed under the British Military Government, managed by Major Ivan Hirst. The production of the Volkswagen Beetle was resumed.
1949 saw the beginning of Type 2 production. The Volkswagen Bus quickly earned as much favor as the Beetle. It became so popular that a dedicated factory was built in Hanover in 1956. Just the year before, 1955, the company had celebrated the completion of their one millionth Beetle at the Wolfsburg plant. By 1972 Volkswagen had produced over one and a half million Beetles and took the record of most-produced model, taking the record from Ford’s Model-T.
By 1973 Volkswagen started production on their first water-cooled engine vehicle, the Passat. This was followed the next year by the Golf, a model that still enjoys great success as its form evolves.