Week 10 EOC Volkswagen

1. On May 28th, 1937 the "Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH" company is founded, and on September 16th, 1938 it is renamed "Volkswagenwerk GmbH". In early 1938, in what is today Wolfsburg, work begins on construction of the Volkswagenwerk plant which is to house production of the new vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche.
2. In September 1998, in recognition of the events of that time, VOLKSWAGEN AG established a humanitarian fund on behalf of the forced labourers compelled to work at Volkswagen during the Second World War. By the end of 2001 more than 2,050 people in 26 countries had received humanitarian aid from the fund.
3. On February 17th, 1972 Volkswagen breaks the world car production record: with 15,007,034 units assembled, the Beetle surpasses the legendary mark achieved by the Ford Motor Company's Model T, popularly known as the "Tin Lizzy", between 1908 and 1927.
4. In June 1983 production of the second-generation Golf begins. The car is designed for a largely automated assembly process, and in the specially erected final assembly hall, designated Hall 54, robots are deployed for the first time in vehicle manufacture.
5. In August 2002, at Volkswagen Slovakia, a.s. in Bratislava, mass production of the Touareg, a luxury-class off-road vehicle, is started, marking the Volkswagen brand's move into an entirely new market segment.
6. In 2007, the Group increased the number of vehicles delivered to customers to 6.189 million (2006: 5.734 million), corresponding to a 9.8 percent share of the world passenger car market
7. In Western Europe, the largest car market in the world, almost one in every five new cars (19.5 percent) comes from the Volkswagen Group. Group sales rose in 2007 to 108.9 billion euros (2006: 104.9 billion). Profit after tax in the 2007 financial year amounted to 4.12 billion euros (2006: 2.75 billion)
8. The Group is made up of nine brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda, Scania and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
9. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity on the market. The product range extends from low-consumption small cars to luxury class vehicles. In the commercial vehicle sector, the product offering spans pick ups, busses and heavy trucks.
10. The Volkswagen Group sells its vehicles in more than 150 countries.