Volkswagen is one of the most popular automakers in the world. Volkswagen is known for making iconic vehicles like the Beetle and the Volkswagen Type 2. The company has expanded incredibly and offers vehicles that include the Golf, Passat, Jetta, and Tiguan, and cars from 12 subsidiary brands including Porsche and Audi. There are many interesting facts which most of the Volkswagen fans don’t know about, do have a look at 10 of them below:
1. Many Volkswagen cars are named after oceanic currents and prevailing winds
Several Volkswagen cars are named after oceanic currents and prevailing winds. Polo, Scirocco, Jetta, Vento, Bora, and Passat are some examples of this.
2. Beetle was world’s most-selling car in the 20th century
Volkswagen’s Beetle was world’s best selling car for most of the years in the 20th century. Before its production was discontinued in 2003, over 21.5 million Beetles had been sold worldwide.
3. When Volkswagen became the most valuable company in the world
Volkswagen became the world’s most valuable company for a short interval of time with over $370 billion market capitalisation in October 2008. This happened when its share price increased rapidly after Porsche revealed that it had effectively gained control of 74% of Volkswagen’s voting shares.
Also Read: 8 Interesting Facts About Famous Car Brands That You Probably Don’t Know
4. Oldest continuous production vehicle in the world
Volkswagen Type 2 Microbus was manufactured from 1950 to 2013 and with the time span of 63 years, it has the world record for the most continuous produced vehicle.
5. Hitler’s Vision
Hitler had the dream of making a company similar to Ford in Germany. So he gave Ferdinand Porsche the responsibility to transform his dream into reality. He gave Volkswagen the popular name ‘People’s car’ and even sketched the first design of the Beetle.
6. One out of ten cars worldwide
In 2014, 1 out of every 10 cars sold in the world was manufactured by Volkswagen. It sold over 10.2 million vehicles in 2014 and 7 out of 10 were sold outside Germany.
7. Subsidiaries
Volkswagen owns a number of subsidiaries including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Ducati, Lamborghini, Neoplan, Porsche, SEAT, and Skoda. The company has invested in financial services and logistics business.
8. Change of Slogan
Volkswagen’s popular slogan “Das Auto” which meant “the car” was changed to simply “Volkswagen” to give a fresh start in 2016.
9. When it was turned down for free
The British once offered Volkswagen to Ford without any charge but Henry Ford II declined this offer as he didn’t like Beetle car.
10. Think small campaign
Directed by Helmut Krone, Think Small is one of the most famous advertising campaigns in the world. It was ranked as the best advertising campaign of the 20th century by Ad Age.
