List of Volkswagen platforms

Volkswagen, [literally: "people's car"] (also known as VW) is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the core of Volkswagen AG (VAG), one of the world's four largest car producers. Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany. Though the origins of the company date back to the 1930s, the design for the car that would become known as the Beetle / "Käfer" date back even further, as a pet project by car designer Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951). Adolf Hitler's desire that almost anybo ...

Including:

• Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany
• Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future
• Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration
• Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf
• Volkswagen - From 1970s to present
• Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle
• Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche
• Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia - Volkswagen

While Volkswagen's range of cars soon became similar to that of other large European car-makers, 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 five generations of the Volkswagen Golf, the first of which was produced from the summer of 1974 until the end of 1983. Its chassis also spawned the Scirocco coupe and Jetta sedan. The second generation Golf hatchback/Jetta sedan ran from late 1983 to late 1991. In 1991, Volkswagen launche ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - From 1970s to present

Volkswagen is part of the Volkswagen group, along with: Audi (the former post-WWII Auto Union/DKW)—bought from Daimler-Benz in 1964. NSU—bought in 1969 by Volkswagen's Audi division, a brand not used since 1977 SEAT—majority owned since 1987 Škoda—bought in 1991 Bentley—bought in 1998 from Vickers along with Rolls-Royce Bugatti—name bought in 1998 Lamborghini —bought in 1998 From July 1998 until December 2002, Volkswagen's Bentley division also so ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - Corporate structure

The company owes its postwar existence largely to one man, British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). In April 1945, KdF-Stadt and its heavily bombed factory were captured by the Americans, and handed to the British to administer. The factory was placed under the control of Oldham-born Hirst. At first, the plan was to use it for military vehicle maintenance. Since it had been used for military production, and had been a "political animal" (Hirst's words) rather than a commercial enterprise, the equipment was in time intended to be ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future

The company has had a close relationship with Porsche, the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer founded in 1947 by Ferry Porsche, son of the original Volkswagen designer Ferdinand Porsche. The first Porsche cars, the 1948 Porsche 356, used many Volkswagen components including a tuned engine, gearbox and suspension. Later collaborations include the 1969/1970 VW-Porsche 914, the 1976 Porsche 924 (which used many Audi components and was built at an Audi factory), and the 2002 Porsche ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche

Like its competitors, the Mini and the Citroën 2CV, the original-shape Beetle long outlasted predictions of its lifespan. More so than those cars, it maintains a very strong following worldwide, being regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement. Currently, there is a wide array of clubs that are concerned with the beetle. The fans are quite diverse. Looks include the resto-look, Cal Look, German-look, resto-Cal Look, buggies, Baja bug's, old school, ratlook, etc. Part of their cult status is at ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle

Volkswagen was in serious trouble by the end of the 1960s. The Type 3 and Type 4 models had been comparative flops, and the NSU-based K70 also failed to woo buyers. The company knew that Beetle production had to end one day, but the conundrum of replacing it had been a never ending nightmare. The key to the problem was the 1964 acquisition of Audi/Auto-Union. The Ingolstadt-based firm had the necessary expertise in front wheel drive and water-cooled engines that Volkswagen so desperately needed to produce a credible Beetle successor. Audi influences paved the way for this new genera ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf

Though the origins of the company date back to the 1930s, the design for the car that would become known as the Beetle / "Käfer" date back even further, as a pet project by car designer Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951). Adolf Hitler's desire that almost anybody should be able to afford a car coincided with this design—although much of this design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka. Hitler's changes to the original design included better fuel efficiency (to make it more economical for the working man), reliabili ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany

From 1948, Volkswagen became a very important element, symbolically and economically, of West German regeneration. Heinrich Nordhoff (1899–1968), a former senior manager at Opel who had overseen civilian and military vehicle production in the 1930s and 1940s, was recruited to run the factory in 1948. In 1949 Hirst left the company, now re-formed as a trust controlled by the West German government. Apart from the introduction of the Type 2 commercial vehicle (van, pickup and camper) and the Karmann Ghia sports car, Nordh ...

See also:

Volkswagen, Volkswagen - Origins in 1930s Germany, Volkswagen - 1945: British Army and Ivan Hirst unclear future, Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration, Volkswagen - 1974: From Beetle to Golf, Volkswagen - From 1970s to present, Volkswagen - Cult status of the Beetle, Volkswagen - Relationship with Porsche, Volkswagen - Corporate structure

Read more here: » Volkswagen: Encyclopedia II - Volkswagen - 1948–1974: Icon for German regeneration