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N0KFQ > TODAY 28.05.17 13:09l 61 Lines 2793 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 33945_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - May 28
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<N0KFQ
Sent: 170528/1206Z 33945@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1937
Volkswagen is founded
On this day in 1937, the government of Germany - then under the
control of Adolf Hitler of the National Socialist (Nazi)
Party - forms a new state-owned automobile company, then known as
Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH.
Later that year, it was renamed simply Volkswagenwerk, or "The
People's Car Company."
Originally operated by the German Labor Front, a Nazi
organization, Volkswagen was headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany.
In addition to his ambitious campaign to build a network of
autobahns and limited access highways across Germany, Hitler's
pet project was the development and mass production of an
affordable yet still speedy vehicle that could sell for less than
1,000 Reich marks (about $140 at the time). To provide the design
for this "people's car," Hitler called in the Austrian automotive
engineer Ferdinand Porsche. In 1938, at a Nazi rally, the Fuhrer
declared: "It is for the broad masses that this car has been
built. Its purpose is to answer their transportation needs, and
it is intended to give them joy." However, soon after the KdF
(Kraft-durch-Freude)-Wagen ("Strength-Through-Joy" car) was
displayed for the first time at the Berlin Motor Show in 1939,
World War II began, and Volkswagen halted production. After the
war ended, with the factory in ruins, the Allies would make
Volkswagen the focus of their attempts to resuscitate the German
auto industry.
Volkswagen sales in the United States were initially slower than
in other parts of the world, due to the car's historic Nazi
connections as well as its small size and unusual rounded shape.
In 1959, the advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach launched a
landmark campaign, dubbing the car the "Beetle" and spinning its
diminutive size as a distinct advantage to consumers. Over the
next several years, VW became the top-selling auto import in the
United States. In 1960, the German government sold 60 percent of
Volkswagen's stock to the public, effectively denationalizing it.
Twelve years later, the Beetle surpassed the longstanding
worldwide production record of 15 million vehicles, set by Ford
Motor Company's legendary Model T between 1908 and 1927.
With the Beetle's design relatively unchanged since 1935, sales
grew sluggish in the early 1970s. VW bounced back with the
introduction of sportier models such as the Rabbit and later, the
Golf. In 1998, the company began selling the highly touted "New
Beetle" while still continuing production of its predecessor.
After nearly 70 years and more than 21 million units produced,
the last original Beetle rolled off the line in Puebla, Mexico,
on July 30, 2003.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
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