A Brief History Of Volkswagen And Their Cars

By Author: Jabbar Karlee
Total Articles: 84
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Volkswagen, meaning "people's car" in German, was founded in 1937 with the intention of providing the public with a practical yet low priced vehicle for everyday needs.

The design of these everyday models was set to contrast luxury and expensive models, which up until 1937 were the only option for people who wanted to buy a car.

The first Volkswagen model was actually designed by well respected designer Ferdinand Porsche, with Erwin Komenda developing the chassis. This model was designed using wind tunnels and due to that process the famous Beetle was born.

Before the war, sales were slow with only a handful of cars being produced; however, in 1946 the Volkswagen factory was manufacturing roughly 1,000 vehicles a month. This figure is even more astounding as the company had strict post-war production guidelines and their factory had fallen into disrepair during the war.

During this period some of the most significant VW models were developed, including the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle, the 1949 Volkswagen Sedan, the 1958 Volkswagen Pickup truck, the 1300 Deluxe of 1966 and of course the 1967 VW Beetle.

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... fact, during the fifties sales of the Beetle were unrivalled and then in the seventies Volkswagen sold a huge 15,007, 034 Beetles. This success made the model the most-produced road car ever manufactured and even more successful that the Model T Ford.

During 1974 one model was met with worldwide critical acclaim, helping to secure the company's future. This was the Volkswagen Golf, which became a due to the fact that it was one of the original front engine and front-wheel drive hatchbacks. Since then, this format has been adopted by other car manufacturers and it can even be said that this design now dominates the industry.

Twenty years on and Volkswagen launch the third generation Golf, which went on to win European Car of the Year in 1992.

Then in 1994 came the new Volkswagen Beetle, which was designed to be a "retro" themed concept car. However, the extent of the positive feedback from critics and car enthusiasts led to a new production model being released later that year.

The company then started to take steps to make their vehicles even more efficient by controlling their use of diesel by developing new propulsion methods that had even greater fuel efficiency.

More recently, a survey by the Environmental Protection Agency in the US revealed that out of the top ten most fuel-efficient vehicles four were manufactured by Volkswagen. Most of these cars are readily available at the nearest car showroom to buy or lease as part of a Volkswagen leasing deal.

This development has lead to the creation of the BlueMotion Volkswagen Polo, as well as new prototype designs for electric and hybrid vehicles.

The E-Up! will be a zero emissions electric car and it is set to be in production by 2013. There are also plans to create hybrid versions of existing models, including the Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI.

According to a Volkswagen press release decisions like these should make the company the world's biggest major car manufacturer by 2018, which should help to secure the fate of the company.