Recently I asked the readers of this blog to answer a poll located at the bottom of the page. It asked "If you were to purchase a car from any automaker listed below, which brand would you most prefer?" The decision was almost unanimous with Volkswagen taking the cake, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota tied at second place. An article on the winning automaker was promised.
So with that being said, Volkswagen has a very interesting history. Some say this brand came to life through an average individual while others claim VW's to be "Nazi Cars" with Hitler as the founder. Of course Volkswagen does not ever mention the companies history (and who would?), and their vehicles are sold today with "born on the Autobahn" as the only German connection. After doing plenty of research, it is more than official that Hitler was in fact the brain behind Volkswagen, when his first known drawing was done in 1932.
After Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany, he wanted his people to be able to afford a quality German car.
BMW,
Mercedes,
Porsche, were all but unaffordable to the average individual. Hitler being a car guy, did the original drawing of the first
VW Beetle, and also decided on how efficient it should be, how fast it should go, how many people should fit in it, how much it should cost, and also wanted it to be safe & reliable. In order to get this job done, he commissioned Ferdinand Porsche, the mastermind behind
Porsche as we know it today, to make this car happen. Porsche gladly accepted this offer and quickly got to work on the project.
Before long, many
Beetles were being produced, but this story quickly takes a turn for the worse as World War II revvs up. It is said that the
Beetle factory was converted and used to produce weapons during the war (also Germanys
Opel is guilty of this), and most people who placed an order for a
VW Beetle never received their car. Almost all
Beetles went to top Nazi officials, therefore defeating the purpose of the cars original meaning.
Some people wonder, if an automaker has a history and a beginning such as Volkswagen, how come this automaker wasn't shut down after the war? The British were initially going to shut this company down and destroy ever aspect about it until a man by the name "Ivan Hirst", a British Army Major stepped in and said no. Germany was completely devastated after the war and money needed to be generated to rebuild the country. What better way to do that than to build an affordable car people the world over would love. Jobs were created and money began to flow allowing for a full recovery in Germany.
Volkswagen as we know it today builds incredible cars, mostly affordable cars, and people love them. I personally think its not how we begin the race, but how we end it that counts. Just like many people we know "have a past", the same can be said about this automaker. However today, Volkswagen is involved in their communities and has become a very respected nameplate. Volkswagen owns Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Bugatti, Bentley, and Lamborghini. As of 2008 VW employs 369 928 people worldwide. No small accomplishment and this automaker continues to grow by building better products, and offering more competitive pricing so the people can afford a quality European, namely German car. Which when you think about it, was the original plan for this company dating back to the 1930's.
This article is a general summary of
Volkswagens history. If you are interested in reading in depth about this automaker check out the link below.
If reading is something you don't have much time for, there is a YouTube documentary highlighting the important steps throughout history, linked below.
(It will be noted here that the 2 above links should be credited for the information typed into this blog article)
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