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Volkswagen (abbreviated VW) is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. The company is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen is the original marque within the Volkswagen Group, which includes the car marques Audi, Bentley Motors, Bugatti Automobiles, Automobili Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer Scania.

Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, in which it is pronounced. Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto (in English The Car). Among its largest owners are the Porsche family, the Emirate of Qatar and the state of Lower Saxony.

History

 * ''For vehicle time line tables, see: Volkswagen (timeline),

Volkswagen was originally founded in 1937 by the Nazi trade union, the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront). In the early 1930s German auto industry was still largely composed of luxury models, and the average German rarely could afford anything more than a motorcycle. Seeking a potential new market, some car makers began independent "peoples' car" projects - Mercedes' 170H, Adler's AutoBahn, Steyr 55, Hanomag 1,3L, among others. The trend was not new, as Béla Barényi is credited with having conceived the basic design in the middle 1920's. Josef Ganz developed the Standard Superior (going as far as advertising it as the "German Volkswagen"). Also, in Czechoslovakia, the Hans Ledwinka's penned Tatra T77, a very popular car amongst the German elite, was becoming smaller and more affordable at each revision. In 1933, with many of the above projects still in development or early stages of production, Adolf Hitler declared his intentions for a state-sponsored "Volkswagen" program. Hitler required a basic vehicle capable of transporting two adults and three children at 100 km/h. The "People's Car" would be available to citizens of the Third Reich through a savings scheme at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle (an average income being around 32RM a week).

Operations
Volkswagen has become a large international corporation from where it started and expanded to different worldwide markets and countries. The world headquarters of Volkswagen are located in its home country in Wolfsberg, Germany. Volkswagen AG, owned by the Volkswagen Group, is situated with other car manufacturers including Audi, SEAT, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Scania, and Skoda. Volkswagen is currently Europe's largest automaker. For a long time, Volkswagen has had a market share over 20 percent. Worldwide, Volkswagen officially ranks as the 3rd largest manufacturer as measured by OICA in 2009. In 2010, Volkswagen, posted record sales of 6.29 million vehicles, with its global market share at 11.4%. Volkswagens core markets include Germany and China. After overtaking Ford in 2008, Volkswagen is the third largest automaker in the world. Volkswagen has aimed to double its US market share from 2% to 4% for the year 2014, and is aiming to become, sustainably, the world's largest car maker by 2018.

Ownership
Volkswagen is a publicly traded company, which issued ordinary shares and preferred shares. The ownership structure is complex. The following table shows the current shareholder structure. Note that neither the Porsche Automobil Holding nor the Porsche GmbH are identical with the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, which is responsible for the production of Porsche sports cars. The Porsche Automobil Holding is owned by the Porsche family, the Emirate of Qatar, 49.9% are owned by the Volkswagen AG. The Porsche GmbH was sold to the Volkswagen AG.

Worldwide presence
Volkswagen has factories in many parts of the world, manufacturing or assembling vehicles for local markets. Volkswagen has manufacturing or assembly plants in Germany, China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Mexico, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and South Africa. Volkswagen also has plans to open a new plant in the United States.

Cars
Volkswagen sells a number of cars under its namesake brand, including sedans, MPVs, trucks, SUVs, and coupes. Their product range extends from the supermini Polo, to compact Golf, to mid-size Jetta and Passat, and full-size Phaeton. SUVs include the Tiguan and Touareg.

Volkswagen has produced various models including:

Clean Diesel
Volkswagen has been selling low sulphur diesel-powered engines for the European market since 2003. VW developed Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) technology for diesel engines, and it offers a wide array of TDI powertrains. As modern diesel fuel economy is 30 percent higher than gasoline engines, a proportional reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is achieved with clean diesel technology. Volkswagen is also developing hybrid technology for diesel-electric. A VW Golf turbo-diesel hybrid concept car was exhibited at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, which has a fuel economy of 70 mpg (3.3 litres per 100 km).

Volkswagen of America Inc. promotes its work in developing "clean diesel", and other fuel-efficient technologies, to increase U.S. sales to environmentally conscious consumers. One of the vehicles being promoted is the 2009 clean-diesel Jetta TDI, which has a 16-valve, four-cylinder common rail direct injection engine which reduces emissions by 90 percent. Volkswagen also claims that this model has the advantage of fuel economy in the mid-50s and mid-40s in city conditions. Stefan Jacoby, CEO of America's Volkswagen, said that it will be released in a sedan and sport-wagon model in May 2008 in California, becoming the first 50-state clean diesel offering.

Neat ethanol vehicles
Volkswagen do Brasil produced and sold neat ethanol vehicles (E100 only) in Brazil, and production was discontinued only after they were substituted by the more modern technology of flexible-fuel vehicles. As a response to the 1973 oil crisis, the Brazilian government began promoting bioethanol as a fuel, and the National Alcohol Program -Pró-Álcool- (Programa Nacional do Álcool) was launched in 1975. Compelled by the second oil crisis, and after development and testing with government fleets by the Brazilian General Command for Aerospace Technology (CTA) (CTA) at São José dos Campos, and further testing of several prototypes developed by the four local carmakers, including Volkswagen do Brasil, neat ethanol vehicles were launched in the Brazilian market beginning in that year. Gasoline engines were modified to support hydrous ethanol characteristics and changes included compression ratio, amount of fuel injected, replacement of materials that would get corroded by the contact with ethanol, use of colder spark plugs suitable for dissipating heat due to higher flame temperatures, and an auxiliary cold-start system that injects gasoline from a small tank in the engine compartment to help starting when cold. Six years later around three quarters of Brazilian passenger cars were manufactured with ethanol engines.

Production and sales of neat ethanol vehicles tumbled beginning in 1987 owing to several factors, including a sharp decline in gasoline prices as a result of the 1980s oil glut, and high sugar prices in the world market, shifting sugarcane ethanol production from fuel to sugar. By mid 1989 a shortage of ethanol fuel supply in the local market left thousands of vehicles in line at gas stations or out of fuel in their garages, forcing consumers to abandon ethanol vehicles.

Flexible-fuel vehicles
In March 2003, on its fiftieth anniversary, Volkswagen do Brasil launched in the local market the Gol 1.6 Total Flex, the first Brazilian commercial flexible fuel vehicle capable of running on any mix of E20-E25 gasoline and up to 100% hydrous ethanol fuel (E100). After the neat ethanol fiasco, consumer confidence on ethanol-powered vehicles was restored, allowing a rapid adoption of the flex technology, which was facilitated by the fuel distribution infrastructure already in place throughout Brazil, with more than 30 thousand fueling stations, a heritage of the Pró-Álcool program,

Owing to the success and rapid consumer acceptance of the flex versions, by 2005 VW had sold 293,523 flex cars and light-duty trucks, and only 53,074 gasoline-powered automobiles, jumping to 525,838 flex-fuel vehicles while selling only 13,572 cars and 248 light trucks powered by gasoline in 2007, and reaching new car sales of 564,959 flex fuels in 2008, representing 96 percent of all cars and light-duty trucks sold in that year. VW do Brasil stopped manufacturing gasoline-only vehicles models for the local market in 2006, and remaining gasoline-engine sales comes from imports. The flex fuel models produced for the local market are Gol, Fox, CrossFox, Parati, Polo Hatch, Polo Sedan, Saveiro, Golf, and Kombi. By March 2009 Volkswagen do Brasil had attained the milestone mark of two million flexible-fuel vehicles produced since 2003.

Electric vehicles
Volkswagen announced it has hired Karl-Thomas Neumann as its group chief officer for electric traction. VW's Chief of research, Dr. Jürgen Leohold, said the company has concluded hydrogen fuel-cell cars are not a viable option.

All-electric vehicles
The two-door E-Up! electric car concept was debuted at the 63rd Frankfurt Motor Show in 2009. The 3.19 m long all-electric E-Up! is anticipated for production start in 2013, and uses a 3+1 seating configuration. It uses a 60 kW all-integrated drive electric motor, (continuously rated at 40 kW) mounted at the front and driving the front wheels.

Hybrid electric vehicles
Volkswagen and Sanyo have teamed up to develop a battery system for hybrid electric vehicles. Volkswagen head Martin Winterkorn has confirmed the company plans to build compact hybrid electric vehicles. He has stated "There will definitely be compact hybrid models, such as Polo and Golf, and without any great delay", with gasoline and diesel engines. For example, Golf is the ideal model to go hybrid as the Golf 1.4 TSI was recently awarded the “Auto Environment Certificate” by the Oko-Trend Institute for Environmental Research, and was considered as one of the most environmentally friendly vehicles of 2007. Also underway at Volkswagen's Braunschweig R&D facilities in Northern Germany is a hybrid version of the next-generation Touareg.

VW intends all future models to have the hybrid option. “Future VW models will fundamentally also be constructed with hybrid concepts,” VW head of development Ulrich Hackenberg told Automobilwoche in an interview. Hackenberg mentioned that the car based on the Up! concept seen at Frankfurt Motor Show, as well as all future models, could be offered with either full or partial hybrid options. The rear-engine up! will go into production in 2011. Nothing has been said about plug-in hybrid options.

Volkswagen announced at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show the launch of the 2012 Touareg Hybrid, scheduled for 2011. VW also announced plans to introduce diesel-electric hybrid versions of its most popular models in 2012, beginning with the new Jetta, followed by the Golf Hybrid in 2013 together with hybrid versions of the Passat.

Environmental record
Volkswagen first implemented its seven environmental goals in Technical Development in 1996. The plan contains themes involving climate protection, resource conservation, and healthcare, through objectives such as reducing greenhouse emissions and fuel consumption, enabling the use of alternative fuels, and avoiding the use of hazardous materials. The original 1996 goals have since been revised in 2002 and 2007. Volkswagen was the first car manufacturer to apply ISO 14000, during its drafting stage and was re-certified under the standards in September 2005.

United States
Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, Volkswagen Group of America is responsible for Volkswagen cars, and other subsidiaries of the Volkswagen group. Volkswagen Group of America was first established in 1955 to standardize dealership service. At one point, Volkswagen was able to hold 7% of US market share with the Volkswagen Beetle being the company's best selling vehicle in the US.

On July 16, 2008, Volkswagen AG announced plans to build its first production facility in the United States since closure of the New Stanton, Pennsylvania plant in 1988. The new facility, due to open in 2011, will be built in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

India
Volkswagen Group Sales India was established in 2007 as a sales subsidiary in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Its subsidiary, Volkswagen India produces Volkswagen cars in Chakan, whose facilities are capable of producing 110,000 cars annually. Volkswagen India currently has 49 dealerships in 40 cities across India, with plans to expand the number of dealers to 200 by end of 2012.

China
Volkswagen Group China has sales of about 18% (2007) of the Chinese market, and is the largest foreign carmaker. The Chinese market is one of the main markets of the Group. Volkswagen started its connection with China as early as in 1978, with its first joint venture in China being the Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd., which was established in October 1984. The second joint venture, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company Ltd. was established in Changchun in February 1991.

Motorsport

 * In 1963, Formula Vee circuit racing, with cars built from easily available Beetle parts, started in the United States. It quickly spread to Europe and other parts of the world. It proved very popular as a low-cost route into formula racing.
 * In 1971, Volkswagen of America started the more powerful Formula Super Vee, which became famous for hothousing new talent. In the 11 years it ran, until 1982, it produced a stable of world-famous Formula One drivers—names like Niki Lauda, Jochen Mass, Nelson Piquet, Jochen Rindt and Keke Rosberg.  Volkswagen also notched up several victories, and the championship in Formula Three.
 * In 1976, Volkswagen entered the under-2000-cc Trans-Am Series, with the Scirocco, and they won their class outright.
 * In 1981, now based in Hanover, and renamed Volkswagen Motorsport, VW took a new direction into rallying, with the launch of the first-generation Golf, and Sweden's Per Eklund, Frenchman Jean-Luc Thérier, and the Finn Pentti Airikkala. The final chapters in Volkswagen Racing UK's rallying story were the 'one-make' Castrol Polo Challenge, and the Polo GTI 'Super 1600' in 2001.
 * In 2000, Volkswagen started a one-make racing cup with the newly released to Europe New Beetle called the ADAC New Beetle Cup. Beside that, the ADAC Volkswagen Lupo Cup, founded in 1998, is continued to support young talents on the way to the top.
 * In 2001, the department was renamed Volkswagen Racing, and since then has concentrated all its efforts on developing its circuit racing championship, the Volkswagen Racing Cup.
 * In 2003, VW replaced the ADAC Volkswagen Lupo Cup with the newly released Polo, to become the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup.
 * In 2004, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles entered the European Truck Racing series with the Volkswagen Titan series truck - it became back-to-back champions for the 2004 and 2005 series.

The Dakar

 * In 1980, Volkswagen competed in the Paris-Dakar Rally with the Audi developed Iltis, placing 1st, 2nd, 4th and 9th overall.
 * Volkswagen enlists Dakar Champion Jutta Kleinschmidt, the first woman to win the Dakar rally in 2001, to help design and compete a Dakar Racer.
 * In 2003, the Hanover based team starts with a 2WD buggy named Tarek. It placed 6th outright but took 1st in the 2WD and Diesel class.
 * In 2004, VW enters the newly developed Race-Touareg T2, finishing 6th overall and 2nd in the Diesel class.
 * In 2005, an updated Race-Touareg with slightly more power is entered, with driver Bruno Saby, finishing in 3rd overall and 1st in the Diesel class.
 * In 2006, Volkswagen released the most powerful Race-Touareg yet: the Race-Touareg 2. Five vehicles entered, with driver Giniel de Villiers finishing in 2nd place overall, and 1st in the Diesel class.
 * In 2009, Volkswagen won the 2009 Dakar Rally held in Argentina and Chile. Race Touareg 2 finished 1st and 2nd.
 * In 2010, Volkswagen won the 2010 Dakar Rally held in Argentina and Chile. Race Touareg 2 defends 2009 victory with first three places.

Volkswagen motorsport: around the world
Below are Official, or Dealership-sponsored Volkswagen Racing activities, outside Germany:
 * China rally participation: Shanghai-VW Santana, Shanghai-VW Polo, FAW-VW Jetta, and Shanghai-VW supported the 1st Shanghai F1 Grand Prix, with a Polo Cup support series.
 * South Africa rally participation: VW Polo, SEAT Ibiza based Polo Playa, VW Citi and VW Golf. Circuit participation: SEAT Ibiza based Polo Derby/Classic, A3 engined series which supports the A1 Racing series, and the GTI-engined F3 style racing series.
 * France: A French Volkswagen team entered the 2000 and 2001 Le Mans Series, with their 2.0 Turbo racer, which produced around 356 kW/485 hp.
 * Argentina: Many Volkswagen models have competed in TC 2000, including the 1980 to 1983 champion Volkswagen 1500 and the 1994 champion Volkswagen Gol.
 * Brazil rally participation: Gol and Voyage, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles heavy trucks. Circuit participation: Brasilia, Karmann Ghia, and Gol, Voyage.  The Bora used nowadays in Stock Car Brasil is actually a plastic body around a tubular chassis with Chevrolet V8 engine.
 * Peru: VW Peru Rally the Fox in the S1600 class.
 * Japan circuit participation: Golf, Lupo and Polo Cup's.
 * Poland circuit participation: Golf with TDI Cup.
 * United Kingdom circuit participation: Lupo, Polo, Golf, Jetta (Vento/Bora), Scirocco, Corrado, Beetle, Type 3, and Caddy. Rally entries: Beetle, Type 3, Polo and Golf.  VW Racing UK now have their own cup; they also have had Rallyed a Polo 1600 class and Golf TDI.
 * Australia: VW has a very close relationship with motorsport. It was the REDeX and Mobil Trials of the 1950s which propelled VW to be a sales success in Australia. In 1999 and 2000, VW won the F2 Australian Rally Championship with the Golf GTI.  In 2001 and 2002, VW raced the New Beetle RSI in the GT Performance series, it was close to the top of the board both seasons.  In 2003, VW Australia was the first to race and develop the R32 Golf in the 2004 GT Performance series, and came 2nd overall.
 * Finland: In 2002, VW won the Finnish Rally Championship in a7/(F2), with a Golf Mk4 KitCar, with Mikko Hirvonen. In 1999 and 2000, VW won the Finnish Rally Championship in a7/(F2) with a Golf Mk3 KitCar.  In 2000, 2001 and 2002, VW won the Finnish Racing Championship in Sport 2000 with a Golf Mk4.
 * Austria: From 1967 until 1974, the Austrian sole distributor "Porsche Salzburg (Austria)" successfully entered the VW Beetle (1500, 1302S and 1303S) in Europe-wide rallies. Victories were achieved in 1972 and 1973 in the overall Austrian championship, on Elba, in the Acropolis rally (first in class).  The last versions used the 1600 cc engine with 125 hp and a 5-speed Porsche 914 transmission.  Top drivers were Tony Fall (GB), Achim Warmbold (D), Günter Janger (A), Harry Källström(S).
 * United States: Beginning in 2008 Volkswagen introduced the Jetta TDI Cup. The Jetta TDI Cup is a SCCA sanctioned race series that features 25 drivers between the ages of 16 and 26 driving slightly modified 2009 Jetta TDIs. The series features 10 events at 8 different road courses across North America. There is $50,000 prize money at stake over the course of the series in addition to the $100,000 prize awarded to the champion of the series at the conclusion of the last race.

Official site

 * Volkswagen.com Volkswagen Cars Worldwide portal
 * Official Website concerning Historic Volkswagen Products (German)

Official Motorsport links

 * Volkswagen-Motorsport.com Volkswagen Motorsport corporate site
 * Volkswagen-Group-Motorsport.info Volkswagen Group Motorsport official Press Release website
 * Volkswagen Racing UK
 * VW-Cup.co.uk Hankook Volkswagen Racing Cup official site
 * Volkswagen South Africa Racing official website
 * New Technology Volkswagen’s 115mpg
 * Volkswagen Turtle Automobil Association(VKOD)-Turkey
 * Volkswagen Endurance Cup Netherlands

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