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Picnic on the Klieversberg 1956
Picnic on the Klieversberg 1956

The history of the Volkswagen brand began with the “Käfer”; development work on this Nazi prestige project began in 1934. On May 28, 1937, the “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH“ (Company for the Preparation of the German Volkswagen Ltd.) was formally established. The name was changed to “Volkswagenwerk GmbH” in 1938, and the company built its main plant in what has become Wolfsburg. However, the outbreak of war and integration in the arms industry prevented mass production of the Volkswagen (“people’s car”) – instead, military vehicles and other armaments were produced using forced labor.

After the war, the British instructed Volkswagen to build the Volkswagen saloon at the end of 1945. With the Type 1 (Käfer) model, and the Type 2 (Transporter) model added in 1950, Volkswagen became a symbol of Germany’s economic miracle, above all as a result of the strong export orientation on the part of the company converted into a joint stock corporation in 1960. Innovative and flexible manufacturing systems made an appearance in the 1970s and led to the birth of a new generation of Volkswagens with the Passat, Scirocco, Golf and Polo models. Growth was boosted in the 1980s through advances in vehicle technology, flexible production, and forward-looking international cooperation.

As its globalization advances, Volkswagen is emerging as one of the world’s most successful volume car manufacturers, and today offers cutting-edge solutions for future issues such as e-mobility and digitalization.

www.volkswagenag.com/de/group/history.html

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The specified fuel consumption and emission data does not refer to a single vehicle and is not part of the offer but is only intended for comparison between different types of vehicles. Additional equipment and accessories (additional components, tyre formats, etc.) can alter relevant vehicle parameters such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, affecting the vehicle's fuel consumption, power consumption, CO2 emissions and driving performance values in addition to weather and traffic conditions and individual driving behavior.

Further information on official fuel consumption data and official specific CO2 emissions for new passenger cars can be found in the "Guide to fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption for new passenger car models", which is available free of charge from all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de/co2.