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Volkswagen AG history
Volkswagen AG company history timeline
On 28 May 1937, the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH was established by the Deutsche Arbeitsfront.
So, on May 26, 1938, the first stone was laid at the construction of the Volkswagen factory near the town of Fallersleben.
On 16 September 1938, Gezuvor was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH ('Volkswagen Factory GmbH').
An industrial community founded in 1938, it is dominated by the Volkswagen plant, where much of the working population is employed.
Only a handful of cars had been produced before the 2nd WW started in 1939.
After the war in Europe, in June 1945, Major Ivan Hirst of the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) took control of the bomb-shattered factory, and restarted production, pending the expected disposal of the plant as war reparations.
1945: British occupation forces begin operation of the Volkswagen factory.
The Austrian automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche, who was responsible for the original design of the car, was hired by the German Labour Front in 1934, and ground was broken for a new factory in the state of Lower Saxony in 1938. It was rebuilt under British supervision, and mass production of the Volkswagen began in 1946.
The factory received the first foreign order for a thousand cars from Holland, and, in 1948, orders were received from Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden and other countries.
In 1948, German citizens bought almost 15 thousand cars, while foreigners – 50 thousand.
The company survived by producing cars for the British Army, and in 1948 the British Government handed the company back over to the German state, and it was managed by former Opel chief Heinrich Nordhoff.
Cars’ cabins became more comfortable, and the engine was partially synchronized. Therefore, on June 30, 1949, the company “Volkswagen-Finanzierungs-Gesellschaft GmbH” was formed.
Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but only sold two units in America that first year.
05/21/21 Company 70 years ago today: Volkswagen receives its first Advisory Board … The first Advisory Board of Volkswagenwerk GmbH was constituted on May 22, 1951 as instructed by the German government.
Porsche died in 1951.) Nordhoff was able to assemble around him a talented team of executives, and he inspired his sometimes despairing and hungry workers.
On its entry to the United Statesmarket, the VW was briefly sold as a “Victory Wagon”. Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 to standardize sales and service in the United States.
In 1960, the German government sold 60 percent of Volkswagen’s stock to the public, effectively denationalizing it.
In 1960, upon the flotation of part of the German federal government's stake in the company on the German stock market, its name became Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft (usually abbreviated to Volkswagenwerk AG).
On May 28, 1964, the Palestine Liberation Organization was founded.
On 1 January 1965, Volkswagenwerk acquired Auto Union GmbH from its parent company Daimler-Benz.
The Volkswagen Beetle became the best-selling car in 1972.
The ancestor of the VW cars new generation is the front-drive VW Passat, released in 1973.
By 1973, total production was over 16 million.
Also in 1974, a factory in Wolfsburg stopped the production of the Volkswagen Beetle, but it was continued by Volkswagen factories in Brazil and Mexico.
The VW Golf I, which appeared in 1974, was the most successful model.
Most significant, however, was the Golf, initially called the Rabbit in the United States, which was introduced in 1974.
In 1974 Volkswagen was brought to the brink of bankruptcy.
In addition, in 1976, the Volkswagen Polo sedan was developed on the basis of the Audi 50.
In 1979, the VW Golf cabriolet appeared, always being in high demand.
Meanwhile in 1981 Volkswagen's United States workforce was cut from 10,000 to 6,000, and a plant in Michigan was sold to Chrysler.
On 30 September 1982, Volkswagenwerk made its first step expanding outside Germany by signing a co-operation agreement with the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT, S.A.
1982: Carl C. Hahn takes over as company chairman.
In 1983, the renewal of the Volkswagen Group began, the new generation of the sports Volkswagen Scirocco was introduced to the motorists.
In 1983 the company lost $144 million in the United States alone.
To reflect the company's increasing global diversification from its headquarters and main plant (the Volkswagenwerk in Wolfsburg), on 4 July 1985, the company name was changed again—to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG).
The changes paid off: sales rose 25 percent in 1985, profits doubled, and Volkswagen became the leading European auto manufacturer.
In 1986 the company sold Royal Business Machines, one of its office equipment subsidiaries, and purchased a 75 percent interest in Spain's Sociedad Española de Automobiles del Turismo S.A. (SEAT), which had been a money-losing venture.
1986: Majority interest in Spain's Sociedad Española de Automobiles del Turismo S.A. (SEAT) is acquired.
A cost-reduction plan initiated in 1987 had saved, by this point, US$2.6 billion, but the expenditures far outweighed the savings.
In 1988, the Volkswagen Corrado was introduced, which took the place of the Scirocco among the company’s current vehicles, and the Scirocco itself was removed from production.
Hahn, whose retirement was scheduled to begin in 1991, was given a two-year extension to oversee the denouement of his bold and costly plan.
1991: Company spends US$6 billion to acquire a 31 percent interest in Czech automaker Skoda.
Hahn, however, was gone by the following year, forced to resign at year-end 1992 after presiding over Volkswagen's rise from fourth to first place in European market share during his decade-long tenure.
He rose through the ranks to gain overall control of Volkswagen in January 1993, a company he described to Automotive News as 'a duck grown too fat to fly.'
Although substantial changes were effected, financial loss was not avoided, and Volkswagen recorded a DM 1.94 billion (US$1.15 billion) loss for 1993, abetted by poor performances of the company's North American operations, Audi AG, and SEAT.
1993: Ferdinand Piëch, grandson of founder Ferdinand Porsche, is named chairman.
He also took the lead on the construction of a new assembly plant in Resende, Brazil, where production began in 1996.
In anticipation of magnesium, the lightest metallic mineral, becoming an important automotive design material, Volkswagen in 1996 acquired a 35 percent interest in Israel-based Dead Sea Magnesium Ltd., a producer, processor, and distributor of the mineral.
1996: The VW Passat is launched.
In 1997, there was the debut of the new VW Golf IV.
In 1998, the company began selling the highly touted “New Beetle” while still continuing production of its predecessor.
Also debuting in 1998 was the VW Lupo, a car featuring an economical three-cylinder engine and marking the company's entry into the subcompact segment.
But a new number four company, DaimlerChrysler AG--formed in 1998 from the merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation--was sure to be a more formidable competitor in Europe and elsewhere.
Three prestige automotive marques were added to the Volkswagen portfolio in 1998: Bentley, Lamborghini, and Bugatti.
But in 1999, after the refusal of the antimonopoly authority to approve the acquisition of Scania by its competitor Volvo Trucks, the Volkswagen Group bought out Volvo.
Then in 1999 Volkswagen faced another European Commission probe into an alleged price-fixing cartel centering on the Passat model within VW's network of dealers in Germany.
1999: The 100 millionth Volkswagen vehicle is produced.
The “Place of Remembrance of Forced Labour in the Volkswagen Factory” is a permanent exhibition which opened in 1999.
On 30 May 2000, after having gradually raised its equity share, Volkswagen AG took over the full ownership of Škoda Auto, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary.
After nearly 70 years and more than 21 million units produced, the last original Beetle rolled off the line in Puebla, Mexico, on July 30, 2003.
The famous brand “Porsche” came under the control of the concern “Volkswagen” (until 2007).
Also in 2007 the VW Touareg and the VW Golf Variant of new generations appeared.
In March 2008, with Winterkorn, the German concern bought another large shareholding and now owns 71% of Scania’s voting shares.
Volkswagen Group revealed on 24 October 2009 that it had made an offer to acquire long-time partner and German niche automotive manufacturer Wilhelm Karmann GmbH out of bankruptcy protection.
In December 2009, Volkswagen AG bought a 49.9% stake in Doctor Ing. h.c.
Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki Motor Corporation's issued shares on 15 January 2010.
As Friday prayers came to a close on May 28, 2010 in Lahore, Pakistan, seven terrorists wielding guns, grenades and suicide vests stormed into two crowded Ahmadi Muslim mosques and opened fire, killing 94 victims and injuring more than 120.
On 25 May 2010, it was announced that Volkswagen Group, through it subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A., had acquired a 90.1% stake in the Italian automotive design house Italdesign Giugiaro.
On 8 September 2011, it was announced that the planned merger "cannot be implemented within the time frame provided for in the Comprehensive Agreement". As reasons, unquantifiable legal risks, including a criminal probe into the holding's former management team were given.
And in 2011, Volkswagen acquired a controlling stake in another trucks manufacturer – MAN. As a result, sales of trucks now bring Volkswagen 17% of the total profit.
Volkswagen AG purchased the remaining stake in Porsche AG equaling 100% of the shares in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, effectively becoming its parent company as of 1 August 2012.
By 2012, all cars of the Volkswagen concern have been modernized, and the total number of sales markets has reached 150.
On 3 August 2015, Nokia announced that it had reached a deal to sell its Here digital maps division to a consortium of three German automakers—BMW, Daimler AG, and Volkswagen Group, for €2.8 billion.
On 23 September 2015, Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation from the CEO position after a crisis meeting of the company board.
On 25 September 2015 Matthias Müller was named CEO. Müller was the head of the Porsche marque within the VW corporate umbrella.
In 2015, a restyling version of the Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid was released.
In mid-2015 Volkswagen briefly held the distinction of being the world’s largest car manufacturer by volume after surpassing Toyota Motor Corporation.
The software code was only revealed when the EPA refused to certify VW's 2016 models for sale in the US unless the corporation provided full disclosure.
On 21 April 2017, a United States federal judge ordered Volkswagen "to pay a $2.8 billion criminal fine for rigging diesel-powered vehicles to cheat on government emissions tests". The "unprecedented" plea deal formalized a punishment that Volkswagen AG agreed to earlier in 2017.
Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages.
In 2019 Volkswagen ended production of the Beetle, which had undergone various redesigns over some eight decades.
According to VW Group CEO Doctor Herbert Diess, the company will offer 25 electric models and 20 plug-in hybrids by 2020.
Bugatti left the Volkswagen Group in November 2021, when the company became part of Bugatti Rimac, a joint venture between Rimac Automobili and Porsche AG.
In 2021, Volkswagen Group released their New Auto strategy.
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Volkswagen AG competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peugeot Brasil | 2001 | $169.8B | 208,780 | - |
| Peddle | 2004 | $11.0M | 5 | 2 |
| Nissan Motor | 1934 | $4.8M | 77 | 31 |
| Safelite AutoGlass | 1947 | $2.3B | 15,000 | 949 |
| RealTruck.Com | 1998 | $20.0M | 139 | 12 |
| Agero | 1972 | $660.0M | 2,200 | 6 |
| Safelite Auto Glass | - | $750,000 | 10 | - |
| Glass America | 1999 | $24.6M | 273 | 599 |
| Ford Holdings LLC | 1989 | $1.2M | 7 | 32 |
| EasyCare | 1984 | $199.9M | 350 | 110 |
Volkswagen AG history FAQs
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