Volkswagen AG , or VW, is an automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the core of Volkswagen Group and is the world's fourth largest car producer after Toyota, GM and Ford, respectively. Porsche has announced it will increase its stake in Volkswagen, thus making Porsch the majority shareholder.
The name means "people's car" in German, in which it is pronounced [folksvagen]. Its old German tagline is "Aus Liebe zum Automobil", which is translated as "Out of love for the car" - or, "For Love of the People's Cars", as translated by VW in other languages. The new tagline is "Volkswagen - Das Auto" or "Volkswagen - The Car".
Founded in 1937 by German Auto Association.
The company has had a close relationship with Porsche, the Zuffenhausen-based sports car manufacturer founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the original Volkswagen designer. The first Porsche cars, the 1948 Porsche 356, used many Volkswagen components including a tuned engine, gearbox and suspension. Later collaborations include the 1969/1970 VW-Porsche 914, the 1976 Porsche 924 (which used many Audi components and was built at an Audi factory), and the 2002 Porsche Cayenne (which shares engineering with the VW Touareg).
In September 2005, Porsche announced it was buying a 20% stake in Volkswagen at a cost of €3 billion, with the intention that the combined stakes of Porsche, Volkswagen and the government of Lower Saxony ensure that any hostile takeover by foreign investors would be impossible. In July Porsche increased their ownership to 25.1% and in March 2007 to 30.9%.
In September 2005, Porsche announced it was buying a 20% stake in Volkswagen at a cost of €3 billion, with the intention that the combined stakes of Porsche, Volkswagen and the government of Lower Saxony ensure that any hostile takeover by foreign investors would be impossible. In July Porsche increased their ownership to 25.1% and in March 2007 to 30.9%.
Volkswagen is part of the Volkswagen group, along with:
Audi — the one remaining brand from the former Auto Union group —bought from Daimler-Benz in 1964.
NSU — bought in 1969 by Volkswagen and merged into the Audi division, a brand not used since 1977
SEAT — majority owned since 1987
Škoda — bought in 1991
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles — started operations in 1995, VWCV is in charge of all Commercial Vehicle developments within the group.
Bentley — bought in 1998 from Vickers along with Rolls-Royce -cannot produce cars using the Rolls-Royce marque because the trademarks went to BMW
Bugatti — name bought in 1998
Lamborghini — bought on June 12, 1998
Audi — the one remaining brand from the former Auto Union group —bought from Daimler-Benz in 1964.
NSU — bought in 1969 by Volkswagen and merged into the Audi division, a brand not used since 1977
SEAT — majority owned since 1987
Škoda — bought in 1991
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles — started operations in 1995, VWCV is in charge of all Commercial Vehicle developments within the group.
Bentley — bought in 1998 from Vickers along with Rolls-Royce -cannot produce cars using the Rolls-Royce marque because the trademarks went to BMW
Bugatti — name bought in 1998
Lamborghini — bought on June 12, 1998
From July 1998 until December 2002, Volkswagen's Bentley division also sold cars under the Rolls-Royce name under an agreement with BMW, which had bought the rights to that name. From 2003, only BMW may make cars called Rolls-Royce.
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