Volkswagen crossed the boundaries of Germany in the end og 1950’s to reach the Europen market. The attempt was a big success. While Volkswagen’s range of cars became a big hit in the European market, the Golf has been the mainstay of the Volkswagen lineup since its introduction. Thanks to its sophisticated features and looks. There have been five generations of the Volkswagen Golf. Its first version came out  in the summer of 1974. It was a common face in the market until 1983.

Its chassis also spawned the Volkswagen Scirocco sport coupe, Volkswagen Jetta saloon/sedan, Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet convertible, and Volkswagen Caddy pickup.

The second-generation Golf hatchback/Jetta sedan ran on the European and American roads between the years of 1983 to late 1991. The North American version was produced in Pennsylvania went on sale at the start of the 1985 model year. The production of the first-generation Golf went up annually in South Africa as the Citi Golf, with only minor modifications to the interior, engine and chassis, using tooling relocated from the New Stanton plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania .

But the eighties were gloomy years for Volkswagen in America. The sales in both the United States and Canada fell dramatically, despite the success of models like the Golf elsewhere. The Rabbit  developed a reputation for bad electrical systems and oil burning. The Japanese and the Americans were able to compete with similar products at lower prices. Later, VW launched the second-generation Golf, GTI and Jetta models which helped briefly in North America. VW’s American sales broke 200,000 in 1985 and 1986 before resuming the downward trend from earlier in the decade. VW brought the Czech car maker Škoda Auto the following year.

Volkswagen launched the second generation Volkswagen Polo, a stylish and spacious three-door hatchback in 1981 and sold as a hatchback and “coupewhich was a  big success. It was facelifted in 1990 and was in demand for long years  until its replacment by the third generation Polo in 1994.

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Volkswagen has created its own base over the years around the globe. Commonly known as Volkswagen, the German manufacturer is based in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen Passenger Cars forms the major component of the much larger Volkswagen Group, which is the world’s third largest car producer after Toyota and General Motors respectively. Volkswagen in German language means “people’s car Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto which in English means ‘The Car’.

Adolf Hitler, the German despot was a die-hard car lover he did not drive. In 1933, after taking over the power of Germany, he asked Ferdinand Porsche to make changes to his original 1931 design to make it more suitable and fascinating. Various changes were thus made to the car and in 1938 “KdF-Wagen”, later known as the VW Käfer - or Volkswagen Beetle was born. The changes made to the car included better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease-of-use, and economically efficient repairs and parts. The main aim behind bringing out thecar was to induce ordinary Germans to buy the car by means of a savings scheme, which around 336,000 people eventually paid into. The VW car was just one of many KdF programmes. 

In the post World War years, Volkswagen suffered major setbacks. The factory was heavily bombed and was captured by the Americans, and subsequently handed over to the British, within whose occupation zone the town and factory fell. It  was planed to use for military vehicle maintenance. Short of light transport, in September 1945 the British Army was persuaded to place a vital order for 20,000. The first few hundred cars went to personnel from the occupying forces, and to the German Post Office.By 1946 the factory started producing 1,000 cars a month. , a remarkable feat considering it was still in disrepair. The Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg later came under UK control in 1945. But no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory. The factory survived by producing cars for the British Army for a few years. 

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