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It’s full speed ahead for the icon of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, the Golf, since all eight derivatives were made available in the fall of 2020. Last year it was once again the top-selling car in Europe with around 312,000 deliveries The Wolfsburg figurehead was once again the top-selling car in Germany last year, too, with around 133,900 deliveries to customers. “In 2020 the Golf is still exactly where it belongs,” says Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

“With the Golf 8 we are seamlessly continuing the success story of its previous generations. The car is continuing to set technical standards in many dimensions,” said Brandstätter. “After the outbreak of the coronavirus in spring interrupted the market launch that had just started, the Golf had a lot of catching up to do in the second half of the year.

In particular, the availability of all of the important model derivatives, such as the GTI, GTD und GTE, gave the Golf a second wind in the third quarter,” Brandstätter continued. The high demand for hybrid models also contributed to this success. Because of this, by the end of the year one in three Golfs was a hybrid. You can also see just how dynamic the back end of the year was in the fact that, of the approximately 312,000 Golf models delivered in Europe, around 179,000 hit the streets in the second half of the year alone.

At the end of the year, the Golf was by far and away at the top of registration statistics in Germany, followed by two other Volkswagen models, the Tiguan and the Passat. A car from competitors only made it as high as fourth place on the sales list.

The Golf was unanimously named the best car in the compact class by German trade press and won all 16 comparative tests in the Auto Motor und Sport, Auto Bild and Auto Zeitung magazines. The customers are of the same opinion, making the Golf the number 1 once again. “I would like to thank all of the customers who have given us their trust. But my gratitude also goes to our entire team that have done an excellent job during the difficult conditions of the coronavirus crisis,” said Brandstätter.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

On December 27, 1945 the serial production of the Volkswagen Limousine (Type 1) got started. This was the real beginning of the success story of the Volkswagen. The model had originally been planned as a prestige project of the National Socialists. But from 1939 onwards the Wolfsburg plant had produced armaments instead of vehicles. Up to the end of World War II, only 630 units of the model, which had been renamed “KdF-Wagen” in 1938, left the Volkswagen plant. It was only under British trusteeship that the unique success story of the VW Beetle began at Wolfsburg thanks to the strategic vision of Major Ivan Hirst.

Series production of the civilian Volkswagen, referred to internally as “Type 1”, which later became world-famous as the “Beetle”, only started following the end of World War II on December 27, 1945 under the trusteeship over Volkswagenwerk GmbH which had been assumed by the British Military Government in June 1945. The British intended to use the Volkswagen Type 1 to perform urgently needed transport tasks within their occupation zone. It was this British pragmatism that finally protected the plant against impending demolition. Senior Resident Officer Major Ivan Hirst played a key role in this development. It was his farsightedness and talent for improvisation that made it possible to start automobile production in the years of rationing under conditions dominated by shortages. With his enthusiasm for technology and cars, his purposefulness and distinct attitude, he succeeded in transforming a former armaments plant into a civilian industrial company in an impressively short space of time.

The British Military Government had already issued an order for 20,000 vehicles in August 1945. The start of production was a visible sign of a new beginning and hope at the factory which had been largely destroyed by the end of World War II. This solution was in line with later British policy for Germany, which saw financial security and future prospects for the population as key elements in the development of democratic structures. Finally, democracy finds its way into the Volkswagenwerk: on November 27, 1945 the the Works Council elected in a democratic ballot held its constituent meeting.

Nevertheless, there were considerable problems in supplying the workforce with food and living space and production was hampered by raw material and energy supply bottlenecks. Despite these difficult conditions, the first Volkswagen sedan left the production line shortly after Christmas. Wolfsburg and Volkswagenwerk GmbH received a belated Christmas present only eight months after the end of the war. By the end of 1945, 55 vehicles had been produced.

From 1946 up to the currency reform, about 1,000 vehicles were produced per month. It was not possible to produce more vehicles in view of material shortages and rationing as well as a lack of personnel. The trustees responsible laid the foundations for further growth of the company by the fall of 1949. They established a sales and after-sales service system and began to export the Volkswagen sedan in 1947.

The decision to develop a civilian factory and to start series production of the Volkswagen Type 1 was the starting point of a unique success story. Thanks to the early restart, the Volkswagenwerk GmbH got an excellent initial position for the economic upswing after the introduction of the D-Mark. Under the unofficial designation of “VW Beetle”, the car became more popular than almost any other automobile model throughout the world. It was also a record breaker in terms of production duration and volume. Volkswagen only discontinued production of the VW Beetle in Mexico in 2003, after 21,529,464 vehicles had been manufactured, including about 15.8 million in Germany.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

The Volkswagen brand is significantly expanding the charging infrastructure at its German sites. Some 750 new charging points are planned for next year, including the first High Power Charging stations with up to 300 kW power. Some 2,000 charging points in total are expected to be in operation by the end of 2021 – over 50 percent more than at present. Currently, there are already more than 1,200 charging points at Volkswagen’s ten sites in Germany. A large share are publicly accessible and can also be used by EV drivers who do not work for Volkswagen. The biggest charging park with some 500 charging points is located in Wolfsburg. Further parks have been installed in Hanover, Brunswick, Salzgitter, Kassel, Emden, Osnabrück, Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden. In the last twelve months alone, Volkswagen recorded over 50,000 charging operations at its sites in spite of corona. The power comes exclusively from renewable energy sources.

Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Brand responsible for E-mobility, said: “As announced, 2020 marked the start of Volkswagen’s major electric offensive. We successfully launched the ID.3, and are already following that up with the next model, the ID.4. Volkswagen is also making an important contribution to the urgently needed expansion of the charging infrastructure. We need significantly more charging points in Germany and Europe if electric vehicles are to establish themselves quickly. For that reason, all players from the fields of politics and industry must continue their efforts in the coming year.”

The Volkswagen brand has a comprehensive commitment to charging. Some 4,000 charging points are to be installed at the brand’s sites by 2025. Volkswagen dealers are also expanding new charging options on a large scale. In future, every Volkswagen dealer in Germany will provide at least one AC charger with 11 kW power and one DC charger with 22 kW power. In addition, the Group engages worldwide in setting up fast-charging networks – via IONITY in Europe, Electrify America in the USA and CAMS in China.

High demand for ID. Charger wallboxes

Volkswagen also offers proprietary wallboxes, charging services and green power tariffs via its subsidiary Elli. Home charging is booming: In the last three months alone, private wallbox deliveries by Elli ran at a five-digit figure. In Germany, demand is driven by the incentive program for private charging stations that offers a €900 bonus for the purchase of connected wallboxes. Volkswagen supplies two models eligible for the bonus – the ID. Charger Connect (€599) and the ID. Charger Pro (€849). Despite high demand, delivery time for these models is currently approximately two weeks.

Volkswagen was the first automaker to commit to the Paris Agreement and aims to become climate neutral by 2050. Under its long-term planning for the next ten years, the Group intends to launch some 70 all-electric models by 2030. Around 20 of these are already in production, with 50 more to follow. The Planning Round envisages production of approximately 26 million fully-electric cars by 2030. The Group plans to spend some €35 billion on e-mobility alone.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Since 1950, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand has been exporting vehicles dismantled into individual parts in order to assemble them in the destination country. This approach is referred to as “completely knocked down” (CKD). Initially, the approach was to open up new markets; nowadays, CKD also ensures supplies to Volkswagen’s global production network – and is a key factor in sales. To date, about 200 million vehicles have been exported to countries throughout the world. About 3 million further vehicles or parts are added every year. The first vehicle to be assembled from individual parts supplied in a box was the legendary Beetle.

The CKD approach may be adopted for a number of reasons; it may not be viable to build a factory in the country concerned, volumes may be too low for local production, the cost of new tooling for a local plant may be too high or customs and import regulations may call for this approach.

Wolfsburg is the nerve center

This is how it works: all the orders received from overseas plants are collected centrally in Wolfsburg. The supply management team ensures that the vehicle parts are available from the European plants and suppliers. The parts are then bundled and packaged at one of the eight distribution centers, loaded into containers and shipped by sea, rail or air to overseas countries and Russia, where they are assembled. At the distribution centers in Wolfsburg, Salzgitter and Kassel alone, a total of 660 employees work in this area. Other locations are Duisburg, Emden, Fallersleben, Wilhelmshaven and Martorell (Spain). These eight packaging centers ship a total of about 1.7 million cubic meters of goods every year, corresponding to about 25,000 overseas containers. From the receipt of an order, it takes about eight weeks before the vehicle is delivered in the destination country. All in all, about 90 different vehicle projects of overseas plants are supplied via CKD from Europe.

First the Beetle then the box

Everything started in 1950, when the first Beetle dismantled into individual parts arrived in Ireland. This was followed by deliveries to South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Especially in South America, the assembly of CKD vehicles laid the foundation for the major production companies now operating there, such as Volkswagen do Brasil or Volkswagen de México. Nowadays, there are 27 assembly locations in 10 countries. The largest CKD assembly plant is located in South Africa; for example, the Polo for all right-hand-drive markets is assembled there. Another export bestseller is the Tiguan, which is also built from CKD kits in Russia and Mexico. Further plants are located in the USA, China, Brazil, Argentina, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

From hand-packed to high-tech

Once, the parts were packed in boxes manually. Nowadays, high-tech systems are used. Highly advanced robotic systems provide support for loading the components at the distribution centers. They are equipped with a special hand attachment allowing them to grip vehicle parts of all shapes and sizes. This relieves the burden on the team, especially when packing heavy vehicle parts. Bots using artificial intelligence also simplify email communications with suppliers. They read the emails and react independently. For example, if a supplier responding to an enquiry indicates that a batch will be delivered in several consignments, this information is automatically detected by natural language processing (NLP) and directly transmitted to the SAP production management system.

Burkhard Hüsken, Head of CKD of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand: “We used to need only one or two faxes per week for coordination with the overseas plants. Nowadays, we work with our production plants on a real-time basis and manage about 9,000 part numbers for worldwide shipment. The tasks of our employees have changed fundamentally. They are no longer simply box packers but are now logistics data experts.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com