VW’s Beetle prepares to celebrate its 75th
The Volkswagen Beetle line up from 1938 (far left) to 1975. Photos: Volkswagen
It’s nearly celebration time for the Volkswagen Beetle that turns 75, and not only did it revolutionise motoring as we know it, but transformed the German company to the motoring powerhouse of today.
On December 27, 1945, the serial production of the Volkswagen Limousine (Type 1) got started, and this was the real beginning of the success story of 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.
The British intended to use the Volkswagen Type 1 to perform urgently needed transport tasks within their occupation zone, and they finally protected the plant against impending demolition. Senior Resident Officer Major Hirst had a 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.
Despite 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.
Production of the Beetle aka Type 1 began in earnest on December 27, 1945.
From 1946 up to the currency reform on June 20, 1948, about 1000 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. On 13 September 2018, Volkswagen announced that the Beetle would cease production in July 2019.
