Corespondență economică - Brandul 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, in which it is pronounced [folksvagen]. Its German tagline is "Aus Liebe zum Automobil", which is translated as "For the love of the car" - or, "For Love of the People's Cars", as translated by VW in other languages, though in direct translation it reads "Out of love for the car."

History

Origins in 1930s Germany

Adolf Hitler had a keen interest in cars even though he did not drive. In 1933, he demanded that Ferdinand Porsche make changes to his original 1931 design to make it more suited for the working man. Hans Ledwinka discussed his ideas with Ferdinand Porsche who used many Tatra design features in the 1938 Kdf-Wagen, later known as the VW Kafer - or Beetle.

Changes included better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease of use, and economically efficient repairs and parts. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme ("Funf Mark die Woche musst Du sparen, willst Du im eigenen Wagen fahren" -- "Save five Marks a week, if you want to drive your own car") which around 336,000 people eventually paid into.

Volkswagen honoured its savings agreements after World War II; Ford, which had a similar "coupon" savings system, reportedly did not. Prototypes of the car called the "Kdf-Wagen" (German: Kraft durch Freude -- "strength through joy"), appeared from 1936 onwards (the first cars had been produced in Stuttgart). The car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. The VW car was just one of many KdF programmes which included things such as tours and outings.

Erwin Komenda, the longstanding Porsche 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; unlike the Chrysler Airflow, it would be a success.

The new factory in the new town of KdF-Stadt, now called Wolfsburg, purpose-built for the factory workers, only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. None were actually delivered to holders of the completed saving stamp books, though one Type 1 Cabriolet was presented to Hitler on his birthday in 1938. War meant production changed to military vehicles, the Type 81 Kubelwagen (Bucket car) utility vehicle (VW's most common wartime model) and the amphibious Schwimmwagen. VW Type 83

1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst, unclear future

The company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst. In April 1945, KdF-Stadt and its heavily bombed 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 Oldham-born Hirst. At first, the plan was to use it for military vehicle maintenance. Since it had been used for military production, and had been in Hirst's words a "political animal" rather than a commercial enterprise, the equipment was in time intended to be salvaged as war reparations.

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 (UK registration index JLT 420) 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.

The car and its town changed their Second World War-era names to Volkswagen and Wolfsburg respectively, and production was increasing. 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. After an inspection of the plant, Sir William Rootes, head of the British Rootes Group, told Hirst 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." VW later bought British car makers Bentleys and Rolls Royce. (In a bizarre twist of fate, Volkswagen would manufacture a locally built version of Rootes' Hillman Avenger in Argentina in the 1980s, long after Rootes went bust at the hands of Chrysler in 1978--the Beetle outliving the Avenger by over 30 years).

Ford representatives were equally critical: the car was "not worth a damn." 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. . . and found it to be too close for comfort to the East German border. In France, Citroen started the 2CV on a similar marketing concept. In Italy, it was the Fiat 500.

1948-1974: Icon For German Regeneration

From 1948, Volkswagen became a very important element, symbolically and economically, of West German regeneration. Heinrich Nordhoff (1899-1968), a former senior manager at Opel who had overseen civilian and military vehicle production in the 1930s and 1940s, was recruited to run the factory in 1948. In 1949 Hirst left the company, now re-formed as a trust controlled by the West German government. Apart from the introduction of the Type 2 commercial vehicle (van, pickup and camper) and the Karmann Ghia sports car, Nordhoff pursued the one-model policy until shortly before his death in 1968. An original 1300 Deluxe, circa 1966

Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949. It only sold two units in America that first year. On its entry to the U.S. market, the VW was briefly sold as a "Victory Wagon". 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 relatively unpopular 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