Volkswagen was founded on 28 May 1937 as the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH("Society for the preparation of the German People's Car", sometimes abbreviated to Gezuvor[13]) by the Nazi Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labour Front). The purpose of the company was to manufacture the Porsche Type 60, later better known as the Volkswagen Beetle. On 16 September 1938, the company was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH ("Volkswagen Factory limited liability company").
During World War II the Volkswagen plant near Fallersleben primarily manufactured the military Kübelwagen (Porsche Type 82) and the related amphibious Schwimmwagen (Type 166), both of which were derived from the VW Beetle. Only a small number of Beetles were made during this time period. The plant also manufactured the V-1 flying bomb, also known as the "Buzz Bomb" or "Doodlebug", making the plant a major bombing target for the Allied forces. Much of the workforce at the plant was slave labor, primarily from eastern Europe.
After the Second World War in Europe, in June 1945, Major Ivan Hirst of the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) took control of the bomb-shattered factory, and tried to dismantle it and ship it home. However, no British car manufacturer was interested; "the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car ... it is quite unattractive to the average buyer ... To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise"In 1948, the Ford Motor Company was offered Volkswagen, but Ernest Breech, a Ford executive vice president said he didn't think either the plant or the car was "worth a damn."As part of the Industrial plans for Germany, large parts of German industry, including Volkswagen, were to be dismantled. Total German car production was set at a maximum of 10% of the 1936 car production numbers.The company survived by producing cars for the British Army, and in 1948, the British Government handed the company ba over to the German state, where it was managed by former-Opel chief Heinrich Nordhoff.
Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle started slowly after the war due to the need to rebuild the plant and because of the lack of raw materials, but production grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s. The company began introducing new models based on the Beetle, all with the same basic air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-drive platform. These included the Volkswagen Type 2 in 1950, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia in 1955, the Volkswagen Type 3 in 1961, the Volkswagen Type 4 in 1968, and the Volkswagen Type 181 in 1969.
In 1960, upon the flotation of part of the German federal government's stake in the company on the German stock market, its name became Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft (usually abbreviated to Volkswagenwerk AG).
On 1 January 1965, Volkswagenwerk acquired Auto Union GmbH from its parent company Daimler-Benz. The new subsidiary went on to produce the first post-war Audi models, the Audi F103 series, shortly afterwards.
Another German manufacturer, NSU Motorenwerke AG, was merged into Auto Union on 26 August 1969, creating a new company, Audi NSU Auto Union AG (later renamed AUDI AG in 1985).
From the late 1970s to 1992, the acronym V.A.G was used by Volkswagen AG as a brand for group-wide activities, such as distribution and leasing. Contrary to popular belief, "V.A.G" had no official meaning, and was never the name of the Volkswagen Group.
On 30 September 1982, Volkswagenwerk made its first step expanding outside of Germany by signing a co-operation agreement with the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT, S.A..
In order to reflect the company's increasing global diversification from its headquarters and main plant (the Volkswagenwerk in Wolfsburg), on 4 July 1985, the company name was changed again – to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG).
On 18 June 1986, Volkswagen AG acquired a 51% controlling stake in SEAT making it the first non-German subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. On 23 December the same year, it became the Spanish company's major shareholder by increasing its share up to 75%.
In 1990 – after purchasing its entire equity – Volkswagen AG took over the full ownership of SEAT making the company a wholly owned subsidiary, and on 28 March 1991 another step to the expansion of the group's activities was made through the signing of a joint venture partnership agreement with Škoda automobilová a.s. of Czechoslovakia, accompanied with the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Czech car manufacturer,[18] raised later on 19 December 1994 to 60.3% and the year after, on 11 December 1995, to 70% of its shares.
Three prestige automotive marques were added to the Volkswagen portfolio in 1998: Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.
On 30 May 2000, Volkswagen AG – after having gradually raised its equity share – turned Škoda Auto into a wholly owned subsidiary.
From 2002 up to 2007, the Volkswagen Group's automotive division was restructured so that two major Brand Groups with differentiated profile would be formed, the Audi Brand Group focused on more sporty values – consisted of Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini – and the Volkswagen Brand Group on the field of classic values – consisted of Volkswagen, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti – with each Brand Group's product vehicles and performance being respectively under the higher responsibility of Audi and Volkswagen brands.
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