Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a company that needs no introduction, and they have steadily progressed into becoming the leading automobile manufacturer in the world. The company was originally formed in 1937, and selecting the name that is translated as meaning "people's car" as their identity. It must be said that in retrospect they have indeed been able to produce automobiles that are popular with a wide range of people, which is the foundation of their success.

The idea behind a "people's car" from a marketing standpoint was to offer a vehicle in the 1930s that the typical German could afford to buy. This was actually a state-sponsored idea. The government devised a saving program that would result in each citizen owning a simple, basic motor vehicle when they had completed their standardly derived contributions. The original Volkswagen was designed by the famed designer Ferdinand Porsche, and it looked more or less like the Volkswagen Beetle that became so ubiquitous later on.

World War II interrupted the plan, and after the war the model was rejected by a number of companies, including Ford, who said it was "not worth a damn." Ultimately, the company was run by the West German government in the late 1940s, and by the 1950s and sixties, it became popular in Canada and the United States, continually gaining traction until it became the automotive behemoth that it is today. Classic Volkswagen models include the Beetle and the Karmann-Ghia.