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