volkswagen

Volkswagen was established in 1937 by the german labor front in berlin with the goal of manufacturing cars that the average germans could afford. At this time only one german out of 50 owned a car so there was some competition in the market at the time to produce a car for the masses with some help from Porsche and support from Hitler. 

The Volkswagen beetle was born, over the years Volkswagen has faced scandal on certain times, attempted takeovers and lawsuits and still they persist today as one of the longest-running brands in the market and they show no signs of slowing down. from 2006 to 2016 the company doubled its global sales from 5.7 million to 10.3 million. Volkswagen Group owns some of the most recognized luxury car brands. Despite a 2015 emission scandal, they posted a record profit of nearly $6 billion in 2016. 

The brand inspires us with their ability to change with time. their constant drive to do better and become more dominant in their field and their creative spirit. 

Ferdinand Porsche created the Volkswagen beetle. in 1933 he built a car called the volks auto with an air-cooled rear- engine, torsion bar suspension and a rounded front hood resembling a beetle shape. when Hitler wanted to offer an affordable car to the masses. he decided to sponsor a state-owned factory that produced cars on Porcius design. the car was originally called the kdf-wagen which translated to strength through joy in its long-form. 

Volkswagen was sued prior to world war II over the VW beetle design.

Ferdinand Porsche was inspired by the catcher cars created by Czechoslovakian car maker Hans Lanka. he bought the beetle design, was a little too similar to his T97 car so he sued Porsche. however, the lawsuit was abandoned when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and Patra was forced to halt production.

After world war II the lawsuit was reopened, eventually, Volkswagen ended up paying Katra 3 million Deutschmarks which is around $6 million at today’s valuation. 

After world war II, Ford turned down an offer to take over Volkswagen free of charge. after the war, the fate of the company was uncertain. their commercial vehicles didn’t have much of a chance to take off before they turn to produce solely military vehicles. so the company didn’t seem to have much value after the world war was over. the company was rejected by representatives from American British Australian and french motor industries. it was even offered to Ford, free of charge but Henry Ford II turned it down after the chairman of the board of the ford motor company advised him that the company wasn’t worth a dime.

Porsche tried to stage a takeover of VW in 2008. they plan to quietly buy up shares of Volkswagen so they could ultimately overtake the company. when details of the plan were made public after Porsche denied it for months. The Volkswagen group owned some of the most luxurious car brands in the world. it is the largest automaker by worldwide sales as of 2016. it includes many big-name car brands. the car brands which fall under the VW group include Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, and Lamborghini. Ducati motorcycles are also included on this list. Volkswagen had to pay a $120,000 fine to the Environmental Protection Agency in 1973. VW was caught using defeat devices to disable pollution control systems in their cars. 

VW plans to take absolute full advantage, globally they expect to spend nearly $50 billion over the next four years to develop and build EVs and develop the digital services and infrastructure around them. the company plans to sell 22 million EVs across the globe through 2028. the first VW electric vehicle will be seen in the United States by late next year. the transformation goes beyond their products. by 2025 as a global automaker, VW has set a goal to reduce the CO2 footprint by 30%. by 2050 the company plans to be co2 neutral meaning dismissing the carbon footprint produced by their cars. As an automaker, the company understands its responsibility towards the customer’s peace of mind and safety but also for society and the environment as a whole. VW will be the company that brings electrification to the people. the company always connected with the people ready to lead a change in a new direction. after the diesel gate issue, its a greater responsibility to make electrification happen in light of the diesel gate issue. VW has to gain back the loyalty required which took a bit of leap due to this issue.