Ferdinand Porsche was a visionary who always dreamt of building a reliable small car that everybody would afford. He took his ideas to many employers including Daimler-Benz who never quite bought it.
Volkswagen History
In 1930 Ferdinand launched his own car designing consultancy and got his engineering staff working on designing such a car even as he financed it all doing design work for other auto manufacturers and clients.
In 1933 Porsche heard that the then new Chancellor of Germany wanted to produce a small car that most Germans could afford.
He quickly arranged a meeting and a contract was signed in 1934. And that is how the world famous Volkswagen Beetle came into existence. VWs were first sold outside Germany in 1947 when a car dealer from Holland imported 5 units.
By 1955 barely 10 years after the war Volkswagen was churning out 1,000 cars a day. In 1972 the VW Beetle reached and passed the Ford Model-T production record. It became the most produced car model in history with over 15 million units.
Fascinatingly VW production stopped as recently as 2003 in Mexico. VWs were first sold outside Germany in 1947 when a car dealer from Holland imported 5 units. By 1955 barely 10 years after the war Volkswagen was churning out 1,000 cars a day.
In 1972 the VW Beetle reached and passed the Ford Model-T production record. It became the most produced car model in history with over 15 million units. Fascinatingly VW production stopped as recently as 2003 in Mexico.
Over 22 million units have been produced and sold since inception, a record that is probably safe and is unlikely to ever be matched by any other car model. In recent years Volkswagen have released the New Beetle where the old classic has been updated with modern technology.
Volkswagen also introduced the Volkswagen Passat in 1973. This was followed by the highly successful Volkswagen Golf in 1974. These days Volkswagens remain popular although it has been impossible to find anything that comes close to the old Beetle.
Models in the market these days include the Passat, Golf, Polo, Jetta and Touareg. The Volkswagen group is ranked amongst the top three auto manufacturers in the world.
