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Volkswagen

In 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned to build a small, inexpensive car at the request of Adolph Hitler. His answer -- a beetle-shaped sedan that was called a Volkswagen (German for "people's car") -- debuted two years later after Hitler himself tweeked the final design.

World War II delayed production and the factory was eventualy taken over by the British Army. The company was renamed Volkswagen, and the town at the factory was renamed Wolfsburg. By the end of the 1940s, mass production of the Volkswagen Beetle had begun. The model helped German industry after the war and soon began exporting as far as the U.S. by 1949.

The 1950s saw Volkswagen broadening its product range, adding the Bus (Type 2) to its lineup. The Bus, especially, proved quite popular due to its versatility. And the Beetle, which went on to become the best-selling car of all time, quickly showed signs of being an enduring favorite, with more than 1 million models produced at the Wolfsburg factory by 1955.

The 60s was a great year for the Beetle. It appeared in a disney movie which helped sales and by the end of the decade it had topped 1 million units sold.

In 1972, with more than 15 million units assembled, the Beetle topped the world production record set by Ford's Model T. The manufacturer had then begun building other models such as the ever successful Golf. This car (which is still in production today) has under gone six body and engineering changes, yet the fan base for each Mk is still growing and as are the profits created from it.

The Golf grew in popularity during the '80s, becoming Volkswagen's most popular model. When a second generation of the car was built in 1983, it was crafted in a mostly automated process using robots -- marking the first time robots had been used in vehicle manufacture. The Golf was also winning mahy races. The manufacturer won the World Rally A Class Championship and this only led to increased saless among the public.

The 90s seen Volkswagen aquire Rolls Royce and improves its own line up by refocusing its interests on the middle class and upper class market.

Today, Volkswagen make a range of luxury sedans to small compact cars, almost all of which receive the thumbs-up from the public.