Volkswagen

When in 1937 the company known as "Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH" was founded, no one could have guessed that it would one day be Europe's largest carmaker. The history of the company - with all its trials and tribulations - is first and foremost a story of impressive success.

On May 28th, 1937 the "Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH" company was founded, and in 1938 it was renamed as "Volkswagenwerk GmbH". The early 1938 witnessed the commencement of the construction of the Volkswagenwerk plant which housed the production of the vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

After the end of the Second World War, the responsibility of Volkswagenwerk was placed in the hands of the British Military Government. Under the management of Major Ivan Hirst, mass production of the Volkswagen Beetle had commenced.

In 1950 the Type 2 went into production, expanding the company's product range. Even today, the Volkswagen Bus is popularly known as the "VW Bully". In 1956 a separate manufacturing base for the Transporter was established in Hanover, while establishing the roots for today's Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.

In 1972 Volkswagen broke the world record for the greatest number of cars produced by assembling 15,007,034 units of the Beetle. Volkswagen surpassed the legendary mark achieved by the Ford Motor Company's Model T, popularly known as the "Tin Lizzy". In 1973 the Passat was the first model of the new generation of Volkswagen vehicles to go into production. Following the Passat, the first Golf was built at the Wolfsburg plant. The compact saloon quickly became a hit, and became the legitimate heir of the legendary Beetle. The same year also witnessed the launch of the sporty Scirocco. In 1976 the first Golf GTI rolled off the production line. 

In June 1983 production of the second-generation Golf began. The car was designed for a largely automated assembly process. Designated Hall 54, robots were deployed for the first time in vehicle manufacture.

The Lupo 3L TDI, was the first production car to offer fuel consumption of just three litres per 100 kilometres. 

In August 2002, Volkswagen Slovakia, began mass production of the Touareg, a luxury-class off-roading vehicle. This marked Volkswagen’s position in an entirely new market segment.

In 2003 production of the fifth-generation Golf started, embodying a new dynamism in its design and engineering.