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Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Type	Public
Founded	May 28, 1937
Founder(s)	Ferdinand Porsche Robert Ley
Headquarters	Wolfsburg, Germany
Area served	Worldwide
Industry	Automotive
Products	Cars
Website	Volkswagen.com (International) VW.com (US)

Volkswagen (often abbreviated to VW) is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen was originally founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront).^[1] Volkswagen is the original marque within the Volkswagen Group, which includes the car marques Audi, Bentley Motors, Bugatti Automobiles, Automobili Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer Scania. In 2009, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG endorsed the creation of an integrated automotive group with Porsche under the leadership of Volkswagen.

Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, in which it is pronounced [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡən]. Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto (in English The Car). Its previous German tagline was Aus Liebe zum Automobil, which translates to: Out of Love for the Car, or, For Love of the Automobile, as translated by VW in other languages.

In November 2009, Volkswagen and Porsche overtook Toyota to become the world's largest car manufacturing group in terms of production.^[2]

1974 to 1990: entering the mainstream

While Volkswagen's range of cars soon became similar to that of other large European automakers, the Golf has been the mainstay of the Volkswagen lineup since its introduction, and the mechanical basis for several other cars of the company. There have been six generations of the Volkswagen Golf, the first of which was produced from the summer of 1974 until the end of 1983 (sold as the Rabbit in the United States and Canada and as the Caribe in Latin America). Its chassis also spawned the Volkswagen Scirocco sport coupe, Volkswagen Jetta saloon/sedan, Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet convertible, and Volkswagen Caddy pickup. North American production of the Rabbit commenced at a factory in New Stanton, Pennsylvania in 1978. It would be produced in the United States as the Rabbit until the spring of 1984. The second-generation Golf hatchback/Jetta sedan ran from late 1983 to late 1991, and a North American version produced in Pennsylvania went on sale at the start of the 1985 model year. The production numbers of the first-generation Golf has continued to grow annually in South Africa as the Citi Golf, with only minor modifications to the interior, engine and chassis, using tooling relocated from the New Stanton, Pennsylvania plant when that site began to build the Second Generation car.

In the 1980s, Volkswagen's sales in the United States and Canada fell dramatically, despite the success of models like the Golf elsewhere. The Japanese and the Americans were able to compete with similar products at lower prices. Sales in the United States were 293,595 in 1980, but by 1984 they were down to 177,709.^[3] The introduction of the second-generation Golf, GTI and Jetta models helped Volkswagen briefly in North America. Motor Trend named the GTI its Car of the Year for 1985, and Volkswagen rose in the J.D. Power buyer satisfaction ratings to eighth place in 1985, up from 22nd a year earlier.^[4] VW's American sales broke 200,000 in 1985 and 1986 before resuming the downward trend from earlier in the decade. Chairman Carl Hahn decided to expand the company elsewhere, and the New Stanton, Pennsylvania factory closed on 14 July 1988.^[5] Meanwhile, four years after signing a cooperation agreement with the Spanish car maker SEAT in 1982, Hahn expanded the company by purchasing a majority share of SEAT up to 75% by the end of 1986, which VW bought outright in 1990.^[6]

Volkswagen had entered the supermini market in 1976 with the Volkswagen Polo, a stylish and spacious three-door hatchback designed by Bertone. It was a strong seller in West Germany and most of the rest of Western Europe, being one of the first foreign small cars to prove popular in Britain. The second-generation model, launched in 1981 and sold as a hatchback and "coupe" (with the hatchback resembling a small estate car and the coupe being similar to a conventional hatchback), was an even greater success for Volkswagen. It was face-lifted in 1990 and was still selling well after 13 years, when it was replaced by the third-generation Polo in 1994.

Car Listing

v • d • e « previous — Volkswagen Passenger Cars timeline, North American market, 1980–present — a marque of the Volkswagen Group
type / class	1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
subcompact								Fox / Fox wagon
compact	Rabbit Mk1					Golf Mk2								Golf Mk3						Golf Mk4							Rabbit Mk5				Golf Mk6
	Jetta Mk1					Jetta Mk2								Jetta Mk3						Jetta Mk4						Jetta Mk5
	Dasher																		New Beetle
mid-size			Quantum								Passat Mk3				Passat Mk4				Passat Mk5							Passat Mk6
full-size																									Phaeton
coupé	Scirocco I		Scirocco II								Corrado																			Passat CC
convertible	Rabbit Convertible					Cabriolet										Cabrio											Eos
																								New Beetle Convertible
van	Vanagon (Type 2 - T3)													Eurovan (T4)																Routan
pickup	Rabbit LX
crossover																														Tiguan
mid-size SUV																									Touareg				Touareg 2
founder: Deutsche Arbeitsfront • Volkswagen corporate website • A marque of the Volkswagen Group • Das Auto • 4motion • Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. • Volkswagen Group of America corporate website • Electronics Research Laboratory • North American Volkswagen engines

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