Series production of the Volkswagen sedan begins in Wolfsburg on December 27, 1945 - as a VW Beetle, the car is registered on February 17, 1972 with 15,007,034. copies the most produced car in the world.
Its success story begins in the post-war period:Immediately after the first Christmas after the end of the Second World War, the first Volkswagen Type 1 rolls off the assembly line at the Volkswagen plant, which is under British military administration - the VW Beetle. The British ordered around 20,000 vehicles from Wolfsburg in September, and the first car is ready on this last Thursday of the year. The first civilian Beetles are delivered to the Allies as reparations. Another part of the order goes to the Reichspost, the German Red Cross and other institutions and authorities.
Millionth VW Beetle rolls off the assembly line after ten years
On August 5, 1955, VW celebrates the millionth Beetle in Wolfsburg.Private individuals are only able to buy a new car in the course of 1946 - but then the success of the hunchbacked mobile also goes quickly. On August 5, 1955, in the midst of Germany's economic miracle, the millionth Beetle rolls off the assembly line at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg, to the accompaniment of a great deal of media hype. Thousands of employees and guests celebrate the event.
Production record 1972:VW overtakes Ford
Just eight years later, the company can report ten million vehicles, and in the early 1970s the Beetle reaches eight-digit production figures. When copy number 15,007,034 was completed on February 17, 1972, the VW Beetle overtook the previous rank holder "Tin Lizzy" from Ford with 15,007,033 copies built between 1908 and 1927 - making it the most-produced passenger car in the world. The Beetle is to hold the title until 2002, when it will be replaced by the Golf.
The Nazis want a car for the people
However, the beginning of the extraordinary industrial history dates back a long time - and is colored by the propaganda dreams of the Nazi regime. Similar to the people's receiver, the NS leadership had a car for the people in mind at the beginning of the 1930s. On January 17, 1934, the engineer Ferdinand Porsche wrote an "exposé regarding the construction of a German Volkswagen". The car should offer space for four people, reach 100 kilometers per hour, be able to cope with 30 percent gradients, carry different bodies and cost no more than 1,000 Reichsmarks. On July 22, 1934, Porsche receives the order to build the car.
Kübelwagen for the military instead of Beetles for the people
Three prototypes were built by 1936, which Hitler later named "KdF-Wagen" (KdF =strength through joy). In 1938, with the money from thousands of savers hoping for a Volkswagen, a factory was built from scratch in the town of Fallersleben near Braunschweig:the Volkswagen factory and later Wolfsburg. But instead of the announced 500,000 models a year, only a few hundred Beetles are built for civilian use. Instead, Germans and forced laborers assemble aircraft parts and grenades at the plant and produce tens of thousands of Kübelwagen, a military version of the Beetle for the Wehrmacht and SS.
VW Beetle becomes an export hit
In 1953 the Beetle was exported to 88 countries.After the Second World War, the factory, which was largely destroyed by bombs, is rebuilt. At the end of 1945, the British occupying power restarted production of the Beetle. The car is intended to serve as a service vehicle for the army and administration. But that is not how it remains. The Beetle is the car that the times demand:cheap, easy to repair, reliable. 10,000 pieces are produced in 1946, 20,000 in 1948, and 90,000 in 1950.
Company boss Heinrich Nordhoff recognizes that the still weak German market alone is not enough for success. Exports to the Netherlands began as early as 1947, and the first Beetles reached the USA in 1949 - the country to which the German car owes its name. The Americans call it "Beetle" because of its shape. Incidentally, the nickname is always frowned upon internally, one speaks of "Type 1".
The beetle as a symbol of the economic miracle
By the end of 1953 the Beetle was already being exported to 88 countries. After the millionth copy rolled off the assembly line on August 5, 1955, production rushed from record to record:in 1957 there were two million, in 1959 three million. The engineers in Wolfsburg continue to fine-tune the hunchbacked vehicle:larger rear windows, 12-volt electronics, more powerful engines.
For most Germans, the beetle is the symbol of the prosperity that has been achieved. And it inspires your desire to travel - you can take your family and luggage to Italy in the Beetle over the Brenner Pass.
"World Champion" despite career break
Round, practical, good:the Beetle shaped the image on German roads for years.When the first post-war recession in 1966/67 announced the end of the economic miracle, VW also experienced its first sales crisis. Technically, the "Humpback Porsche" has run its course:the air cooling is reaching its limits, the handling of the rear engine becomes dangerous at higher speeds, and the storage space is too small. However, the sales figures do not suddenly drop, which is why VW is heading into a dead end, because technically modern cars do not initially make it into the program. The group only managed to turn things around in 1974 with the Golf.
The end after 69 years
In exactly the same year, the last VW Beetle rolls off the production line at the Wolfsburg main plant, and in 1978 the last from German production at the Emden plant. But the icon of automotive engineering cannot be killed off that quickly:Beetle production is first relocated to the Brussels plant, then primarily to Mexico. After 1980, the Mexican VW plant in Puebla supplied the European market until Volkswagen stopped officially selling the Beetle in Europe in 1985. In Brazil and Mexico, where the Beetle is just as important for motorization as it is in Germany, the car continues to sell well for a long time. The last one didn't roll off the assembly line until July 30, 2003 in Mexico, it's Beetle number 21,529,464.
Reborn as a "New Beetle"
In 1998, VW tried to revisit old times with the "New Beetle". The car in retro design is larger and more comfortable than its role model and should also become a cult vehicle. However, this does not work. Even the repeated successor, which is simply called "Beetle", cannot fulfill the manufacturer's hopes - production in Puebla, Mexico, ended in summer 2019.