30 Facts About Volkswagen AG

Volkswagen AG, known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Volkswagen AG has operations in roughly 150 countries, and it has 100 production facilities across 27 countries.

Volkswagen AG was founded in Berlin in 1937 and incorporated in Wolfsburg to manufacture the car that would become known as the Beetle.

Volkswagen AG launched a new generation of front-wheel drive vehicles in the 1970s, including the Passat, Polo and Golf; the last became its bestseller.

Volkswagen AG acquired a controlling stake in SEAT in 1986, making it the first non-German marque of the company, and acquired control of Skoda in 1994, of Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti in 1998, Scania in 2008 and of Ducati, MAN and Porsche in 2012.

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Volkswagen AG Aktiengesellschaft is a public company and has a primary listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, and a secondary listings on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and SIX Swiss Exchange.

Volkswagen AG survived by producing cars for the British Army, and in 1948 the British Government handed the company back over to the German state, and it was managed by former Opel chief Heinrich Nordhoff.

Production of the Type 60 Volkswagen AG started slowly after the war due to the need to rebuild the plant and because of the lack of raw materials, but production grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s.

Volkswagen AG began introducing new models based on the Type 1, all with the same basic air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-drive platform.

On 30 May 2000, after having gradually raised its equity share, Volkswagen AG took over the full ownership of Skoda Auto, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary.

Volkswagen AG Group revealed on 24 October 2009 that it had made an offer to acquire long-time partner and German niche automotive manufacturer Wilhelm Karmann GmbH out of bankruptcy protection.

In November 2009, the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG approved the acquisition of assets of Karmann, and planned to restart vehicle production at their Osnabruck plant in 2012.

On 4 July 2012 Volkswagen AG group announced they would wrap up the remaining half of Porsche shares for 4.

Volkswagen AG spent two years trying to keep the research from the public domain.

On 18 September 2015, the US EPA announced that Volkswagen AG had installed a "defeat device" software code in the diesel models sold in the US from 2009 to 2015.

Volkswagen AG issued a profit warning, saying it had set aside $7 billion to fix the fraud.

In 2016, Volkswagen AG Group announced a corporate "Strategy 2025" that focuses on electrification of its portfolio.

Volkswagen AG Group came under pressure for cooperating with the Chinese government in the region of Xinjiang.

Volkswagen AG is still operating a plant in the region as of 2020.

Volkswagen AG Group aims by 2024 to transition to selling mostly electric cars.

Volkswagen AG's shares traded at over €148 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at US$73.

Volkswagen AG has operations in commercial vehicles, owning Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, along with controlling stakes in truck, bus and diesel engine manufacturers Scania AB and MAN SE.

Porsche formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen AG Group, setting its offer price at the lowest possible legal value, but intended the move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake, or to stop hedge funds dismantling Volkswagen AG Group, which is Porsche's most important partner.

The substantial investment in Volkswagen AG left Porsche with huge financial burden with its debts accumulating up to 13 billion euros by 2009.

In July 2012, Volkswagen AG completed takeover of Porsche ending the 4 year saga and formed an integrated automotive group with Porsche.

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Volkswagen AG shares are primarily traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and are listed under the 'VOW' and 'VOW3' stock ticker symbols.

Volkswagen AG shares are listed and traded on other major domestic and worldwide stock exchanges.

From 23 December 2009, Volkswagen AG preferred shares replaced its ordinary shares in the DAX index.

Volkswagen AG has held the top spot in Europe uninterrupted for more than two decades.

Volkswagen AG is heavily involved in sports sponsorship, with investments having included the 2008 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics, as well as the David Beckham Academy.