Volkswagen Worldwide Success

Volkswagen Worldwide Success

A compact, solid and decisively modest Volkswagen or “people’s car”, as desired by the Nazi regime, was introduced in 1937. Its name of KDF was an abbreviation of Kraft durch Reude or “power in happiness”. Due to its round shape, the car quickly acquired a new, more poetic name – the Beetle. Its author, Ferdinand Porsche, had right estimated that despite the previous adverse political context, the small Volkswagen would exceed the record of the Ford T with twenty-two million cars sold worldwide!

This Volkswagen, launched on the market shortly before World War II, was successful worldwide and its round and symmetrical shape made people call it Beetle. The Beetle, the people’s car made available to the general public, was also a film star called “Herbie”. This car had average dimensions for that time and could comfortably drive four passengers with luggage stored in the large trunk under the front bonnet.

When a Beetle crosses a street, you can recognize it easily. Thanks to its famous air-cooled horizontal-mounted four-cylinder engine. Should any Beetles have a somewhat sporty appearance, it was never the intention of this model. From the classic KDF-Wagen or “power in happiness” up to the convertible, everybody can find something that they like in the Beetle. The last one was produced in Mexico in 2003, and the New Beetle replaced it.