Volkswagen  - aiming for world domination? – 

7.4 million vw vehicles per year and counting

What about Volkswagen? What are they up to? Are they the biggest? Are they the best?

I decided to find out more about the global car and lorry maker and unearthed some interesting facts.

 Perhaps the most interesting of all is that VW makes millions of vehicles and owns a stable full of different brands and is heading to be number 1 vehicle manufacturer in the world.

In 2010 they sold 7.4 million vehicles!

They were Europe's largest car-maker in 2010, sniffing at the heels of Toyota and poised to overtake them.

They own Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini as well as Audi and the more humble Seat and Skoda.

During WW2 the factory turned out military vehicles, ammunition and the V1 'Doodlebug' flying bomb

 Volkswagen Aktien Gesellschaft (VAG) started in 1938 when Adolf Hiltler (him with the 'tache) opened the first factory.

It built the people's car (the Beetle) for many years and hit the 1 million production mark in 1955.
Production in Germany finished in 1983; continued in Mexico 'til 2003.

In the 1970's and 80's VW developed it's winning cars namely the Audi 80 and 100 and of course the world renowned Golfs and Polos.

 And VW is very profitable. How do they do it?
Believe it or not most of their cars are built on a 'common platform'

In other words beneath the skin they are all based on the same chassis, power-train range, and running gear.
This saves them having to make lots of different parts but they can still produce a lot of different models for a number of different markets.

 Perhaps most important is the emphasis on quality and skilful marketing.
They also have a reputation for taking a long term view and placing a lot of importance on being consistent.


Add to this careful great advertising and you end up cracking America and selling millions of vehicles.

 The VW Sharan was a good example of this sharing parts and production.

The Sharan also appeared as the Ford Galaxy and the Seat Alhambra.

All diesel engines used in these vehicles were VW Tdi but the VW had the highest price tag, followed by the Galaxy with the Seat being the cheapest.

Germany celebrates 125 years of the automobile