Volkswagon, which began its operations in 1938, had to undergo serious damages after the Second World War. The factory was heavily bombed by Americans and later the factory was taken over by the British army. As no English manufacturer came out to take over Volkswagen, the British government decided to use it to produce military vehicles.

From 1948, Volkswagen became a very important element, symbolically and economically, of West German regeneration.

Heinrich Nordhoff, the former senior manager at Opel was recruited to run the factory in 1948. In 1949 trust was setup to run the company, controlled by the West German government, and the government of the State of Lower Saxony. Volkswagen Type 2, a  commercial vehicle was launched in the year along with the VW Karmann Ghia sports car. Volkswagens made its ntry into the US market in 1949. But the initial yerar was not a sweet experience. It could sell just two units in America that first year.

On its entry to the U.S. market, the VW was briefly sold as a “Victory Wagon”. Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 and slowly grabbed the yankee market.

Heavy advertising helped VW to take up the sales in US to new heights. Thanks to efforts by  New York advertising agency Doyle, Dane Bernbach. The Volkswagen ads became as popular for its usage of crisp layouts and witty copy to lure the younger, sophisticated consumers with whom the car became associated. The first reference to the name Beetle occurred in U.S. advertising in 1968, but not until 1998 and the Golf-based New Beetle would the name be adopted by Volkswagen.

VW easily and comfortably grabbed the American market, which resulted in expanding base over to other countries. The big succes over the European markets helped Volkswagen in emrging as the largest car maker in the next decades.

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Volkswagen has introduced new models from time to time. The Grman auto giant, over the past decades created a secured space in the automobile market with its astonishing looks and features. In the new millenium, VW launched out models that continued its truimphin the world market. Volkswagen introduced an array of new models after Bernd Pischetsrieder took over the charge as Volkswagen Group CEO in 2002. The fifth generation VW Golf came out in 2004.

It fought with competing models including Fiat Panda,  SEAT Toledo, Å koda Octavia and Audi A3 hatchback ranges.

VW brought out Golf under the Rabbit name once again in the U.S. and Canada in June 2006. The fifth-generation Jetta, and the performance version, the GLI, also were seen in the United States and Canada market. The sixth-generation Passat and the fifth-generation Jetta both marked its debut in 2005. VW has announced plans to bring back the Scirocco by 2008. In November 2006 Bernd Pischetsrieder resigned as Volkswagen Group CEO, and was replaced by Audi worldwide CEO Martin Winterkorn at the beginning of 2007. Recently the sports car manufacturer Porsche has announced its plan to buy the majority of Volkswagen’s stock, thus becoming the new owner of Volkswagen. The fifth-generation Passat, has made a facelift from the 1998-01 model.

VW had to face a lot of challenges in North America, rising significantly between 1998 and 2001, VW’s North American sales fell sharply in 2005 of roughly US$1 billion. In 2002, Volkswagen announced the debut of luxury car Phaeton,  which was critically acclaimed but not well received. In conjunction with the introduction of new models, production location of Volkswagen vehicles also underwent serious changes.

Volkswagen is considered as one of the leading small diesel engine manufacturers, and has offered a number of its vehicles with a TDI Turbocharged Direct Injection engine.

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