| Volkswagen literally means "people car". True to its | | | | retooled for the far effort. Porsche revised some of |
| name, Volkswagen produced the best-selling car of all | | | | the VW parts, enlarging the engine and crafting a |
| time, the Beetle. Volkswagen's history goes back to | | | | four-seater body for the wartime model Type 81. The |
| Ferdinand Porsche's vision of producing a vehicle that | | | | VW Schwimmwagen was an amphibious vehicle used |
| every working man can afford. This idea was not a | | | | extensively by the German army. After the war, |
| new one but previous attempts to realize it had failed. | | | | Volkswagen's first customer would ironically be the |
| Ferdinand Porsche had an impeccable reputation as an | | | | British who needed light transport and ordered 20,000 |
| automobile engineer, heading his own consultation firm | | | | units. Volkswagen sold only 2 cars when it started |
| and previously serving as chief designer of Lohner, | | | | exporting to America but clever advertising campaigns |
| Austro-Daimler, Mercedes, Daimler-Benz and Steyr. | | | | popularized the brand immensely. In 1973, sale of the |
| When Hitler expressed his desire to produce a car | | | | Volkswagen Beetle exceeded the 16 millionth marks |
| that would serve the needs of the average German, | | | | replacing the Model T as the best-selling car in the |
| Porsche seized the opportunity and presented his | | | | world. It was also named fourth most influential car of |
| plans to Hitler who greenlighted the project, but with | | | | the 20th century by the Global Automotive Elections |
| several requirements: the car should be a five-seater, | | | | Foundation. Later versions of the Type 1 sold poorly |
| have a cruising speed of 100 kmh, get 40 miles to the | | | | and Volkswagen purchased Audi/Auto Union to help |
| gallon, be air-cooled, and be priced below 1000 Marks. | | | | the company create a new breed of VW vehicles. |
| Ferdinand Porsche accepted the challenge even | | | | Polo, Golf, and Passat succeeded the VW Beetle and |
| though he was sure that a car could not be made that | | | | represented a break from the company's one-brand |
| cheaply: the cost of Ford's mass produced models at | | | | policy. |
| the time was roughly the equivalent of 2,600 Marks. | | | | To keep the company competitive, Group CEO Bernd |
| Fortunately, Porsche had already designed many of | | | | Pischetsrieder and brand CEO Wolfgang Bernhard |
| the required VW parts in one of his earlier models with | | | | unleashed a brand offensive that started in 2002, |
| a similar name - the Volksauto. Porsche assigned the | | | | introducing new models in its lineup like the |
| name Type 60 to his prototype but it was changed to | | | | sixth-generation Passat and the fifth-generation Jetta. |
| V1 and a convertible version Hitler requested was | | | | Martin Winterkorn will become VW Group CEO on |
| named V2. By 1935, 3 prototypes were created and | | | | January 1, 2007. He was responsible for bringing the |
| Daimler-Benz were ordered to build another 30 to | | | | Audi brand to the spotlight and making it a credible |
| complete the testing. The car now sported the unique | | | | competitor to other luxury brands like BMW and |
| streamlined look that would become famous around | | | | Mercedes. |
| the world. | | | | Volkswagen is now the world's fourth largest car |
| The Beetle or VW Type 1 was ready for production in | | | | manufacturer. |
| 1939 but World War 2 intervened and the car was | | | | |