Volkswagen Group

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Volkswagen Group (sometimes abbreviated to VW Group[5]) is a German automobile manufacturing group. As of 2010, Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest.[6][7]
The Group's parent company Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft,[8] usually abbreviated to Volkswagen AG, develops vehicles and components for all marques of the whole group, and also manufactures complete vehicles for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marques.[8] Volkswagen Group is divided into two primary divisions: the Automotive Division, and the Financial Services Division.[1] The Group consists of 342 Group companies, which are involved in either vehicle production or other related automotive services.[1]
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History
3 Volkswagen AG ownership
3.1 Share information
4 Leadership
5 Ranking
6 Corporate structure, brands and companies
6.1 Recent acquisitions
6.1.1 Wilhelm Karmann GmbH
6.1.2 Suzuki Motor Corporation
6.1.3 Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A.
6.2 Postponed merger with Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
7 Sponsorships
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
[edit]Overview

Volkswagen Passenger Cars is Volkswagen Group's original marque, and the Group's other major subsidiaries include passenger car marques such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, and Škoda. Volkswagen AG also has operations in commercial vehicles, owning Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, along with a controlling stake in the Swedish truck and diesel engine manufacturer Scania AB, and a 55.9% stake in MAN SE.[9] Volkswagen AG and Porsche SE reached an agreement in August 2009 that the merger of Porsche SE with Volkswagen would be completed in the course of 2011.[10][11]
Rooted in Europe, the Volkswagen Group operates worldwide. In 2010, Volkswagen Group's largest single country market was China with 1,924,649 units delivered, followed by Germany with 1,038,596 units. Divided by regions, Western Europe is the largest market of the Volkswagen Group with 2,902,948 units in 2010, followed by Asia-Pacific with 2,145,787 units and South America with 907,778 units delivered in 2010.[2]
[edit]History

This section requires expansion.
Volkswagen was founded on 28 May 1937 as the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH[12] ("Society for the preparation of the German People's Car", sometimes abbreviated to Gezuvor[13]) by the Nazi Deutsche Arbeitsfront[14] (German Labour Front). The purpose of the company was to manufacture the Porsche Type 60, later better known as the Volkswagen Beetle.[12] On 16 September 1938, the company was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH[12] ("Volkswagen Factory limited liability company").
During World War II the Volkswagen plant near Fallersleben primarily manufactured the military Kübelwagen (Porsche Type 82) and the related amphibious Schwimmwagen (Type 166), both of which were derived from the VW Beetle. Only a small number of Beetles were made during this time period. The plant also manufactured the V-1 flying bomb, also known as the "Buzz Bomb" or "Doodlebug", making the plant a major bombing target for the Allied forces. Much of the workforce at the plant was slave labor, primarily from eastern Europe.
After the Second World War in Europe, in June 1945, Major Ivan Hirst[12] of the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) took control of the bomb-shattered factory, and tried to dismantle it and ship it home. However, no British car manufacturer was interested; "the vehicle does not meet the fundamental technical requirement of a motor-car ... it is quite unattractive to the average buyer ... To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise".[15] In 1948, the Ford Motor Company was offered Volkswagen, but Ernest Breech, a Ford executive vice president said he didn't think either the plant or the car was "worth a damn."[16] As part of the Industrial plans for Germany, large parts of German industry, including Volkswagen, were to be dismantled. Total German car production was set at a maximum of 10% of the 1936 car production numbers.[17] The company survived by producing cars for the British Army, and in 1948, the British Government handed the company back over to the German state, where it was managed by former-Opel chief Heinrich Nordhoff.


Volkswagen's Golf is the third best-selling car in the world, selling over 26 million through 2008
Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle 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. The company began introducing new models based on the Beetle, all with the same basic air-cooled, rear-engine, rear-drive platform. These included the Volkswagen Type 2 in 1950, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia in 1955, the Volkswagen Type 3 in 1961, the Volkswagen Type 4 in 1968, and the Volkswagen Type 181 in 1969.
In 1960, upon the flotation of part of the German federal government's stake in the company on the German stock market, its name became Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft (usually abbreviated to Volkswagenwerk AG).
On 1 January 1965, Volkswagenwerk acquired Auto Union GmbH from its parent company Daimler-Benz. The new subsidiary went on to produce the first post-war Audi models, the Audi F103 series, shortly afterwards.[18]
Another German manufacturer, NSU Motorenwerke AG, was merged into Auto Union on 26 August 1969, creating a new company, Audi NSU Auto Union AG (later renamed AUDI AG in 1985).[18]
From the late 1970s to 1992, the acronym V.A.G was used by Volkswagen AG as a brand for group-wide activities, such as distribution and leasing. Contrary to popular belief, "V.A.G" had no official meaning, and was never the name of the Volkswagen Group.[19]
On 30 September 1982, Volkswagenwerk made its first step expanding outside of Germany by signing a co-operation agreement with the Spanish car manufacturer SEAT, S.A..[18]
In order to reflect the company's increasing global diversification from its headquarters and main plant (the Volkswagenwerk in Wolfsburg), on 4 July 1985, the company name was changed again – to Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG).
On 18 June 1986, Volkswagen AG acquired a 51% controlling stake in SEAT making it the first non-German subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. On 23 December the same year, it became the Spanish company's major shareholder by increasing its share up to 75%.[18]
In 1990 – after purchasing its entire equity – Volkswagen AG took over the full ownership of SEAT making the company a wholly owned subsidiary, and on 28 March 1991 another step to the expansion of the group's activities was made through the signing of a joint venture partnership agreement with Škoda automobilová a.s. of Czechoslovakia, accompanied with the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Czech car manufacturer,[18] raised later on 19 December 1994 to 60.3% and the year after, on 11 December 1995, to 70% of its shares.[20]
Three prestige automotive marques were added to the Volkswagen portfolio in 1998: Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.[18]
On 30 May 2000, Volkswagen AG – after having gradually raised its equity share – turned Škoda Auto into a wholly owned subsidiary.[18]
From 2002 up to 2007, the Volkswagen Group's automotive division was restructured so that two major Brand Groups with differentiated profile would be formed,[21] the Audi Brand Group focused on more sporty values – consisted of Audi, SEAT and Lamborghini – and the Volkswagen Brand Group on the field of classic values – consisted of Volkswagen, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti[22][23] – with each Brand Group's product vehicles and performance being respectively under the higher responsibility of Audi and Volkswagen brands.
[edit]Volkswagen AG ownership


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Under the so-called "Volkswagen Law", no shareholder in Volkswagen AG could exercise more than 20 percent of the firm's voting rights, regardless of their level of stock holding.[24] In October 2005, Porsche acquired an 18.53 percent stake in the business, and in July 2006, Porsche increased that ownership to more than 25 percent. Analysts disagreed as to whether the investment was a good fit for Porsche's strategy.[25]
On 26 March 2007, after the European Union moved against a German law that protected Volkswagen Group from takeovers,[26] Porsche took its holding to 30.9 percent, triggering a takeover bid under German law. Porsche formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen 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 Group, which is Porsche's most important partner.[27] On 3 March 2008, Porsche announced that it has decided to increase its Volkswagen AG stake up to 51 percent, which would be completed before the end of the year. This was announced just hours after VWAG declared it would take a majority stake in the Swedish truck and engine maker Scania.[28] On 16 September 2008, Porsche announced that the company had increased its stake in Volkswagen AG to 35 percent.[29] As of October 2008, Porsche held 42.6 percent of Volkswagen AG's ordinary shares, and holds stock options on another 31.5 percent.[citation needed] On 28 October 2008, Porsche announced that they effectively held over 74 percent; 42.6 percent actual shares, and the rest as convertible options. It was announced on 7 January 2009 that Porsche now owns 50.76 percent of Volkswagen AG.[30] Volkswagen AG briefly became the world's most valuable company, as the stock price rose to over €1,000 per share as short sellers tried to cover their positions.[31]
The current share ownership of Volkswagen AG is distributed as follows:[32]
In percent of subscribed capital as of 31 December 2010:
Percentage Shareholder name
32.2% Porsche Automobil Holding SE
23.3% Foreign institutional investors
16.4% Qatar Holding LLC
12.9% State of Lower Saxony
11.0% Private shareholders / others
2.9% German institutional investors
1.3% Porsche Holding GmbH, Salzburg
In percent of current voting rights as of 31 December 2010:
Percentage Shareholder name
50.74% Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Stuttgart
20.00% State of Lower Saxony, Hanover
17.00% Qatar Holding
2.37% Porsche GmbH, Salzburg
9.89% Others

[edit]Share information
Volkswagen AG shares are primarily traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange,[33] and are listed under the 'VOW' and 'VOW3' stock ticker symbols. First listed in August 1961, the shares were issued at a price of DM 350 per DM 100 share,[33] Volkswagen AG shares are now separated into two different types or classes: 'ordinary shares' and 'preference shares'.[33] The ordinary shares are now traded under the WKN 766400 and ISIN DE0007664005 listings, and the preference shares under the WKN 766403 and ISIN DE0007664039 listings.[33]
Volkswagen AG shares are also listed and traded on other major domestic and worldwide stock exchanges. In Germany's domestic exchanges, since 1961 these include those in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart. International exchanges include those in Basel (listed in 1967), Geneva (1967), Zürich (1967), Luxembourg (1979), London (1988), and New York (1988).[33]
Since the start of trading in 1961, Volkswagen AG shares have been subjected to two stock splits – the first was on 17 March 1969 when they were split at a ratio of 2:1, from a DM 100 share to a DM 50 share. The second split occurred on 6 July 1998, the DM 50 share being converted into a share of no overall nominal value, at a ratio of 1:10.[33]
From 23 December 2009, Volkswagen AG preferred shares replaced its ordinary shares in the DAX index.[34]
[edit]Leadership

Volkswagen (mbH, GmbH, AG) leaders
From To Person(s)
1937 1945 Bodo Lafferentz, Ferdinand Porsche, Jakob Werlin[35]
June 1945 January 1948 Ivan Hirst (REME)[12]
2 January 1948 1967 Heinrich Nordhoff
1968 1971 Kurt Lotz
1971 1975 Rudolf Leiding
1975 1982 Toni Schmücker
1982 1993 Carl Hahn
1 January 1993 16 April 2002 Ferdinand K. Piëch
16 April 2002 31 December 2006 Bernd Pischetsrieder
1 January 2007 present Martin Winterkorn
[edit]Ranking

Top 3 Automakers Global, 2010
Group Units share
Toyota 8,557,351 11.0%
G.M. 8,476,192 10.9%
Volkswagen 7,341,065 9.4%
Top 3 automakers 2010 by global volume, based on OICA data. Market share based on OICA 2010 global total of 77,743,862
The worldwide ranking of automakers is compiled once per year by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers OICA. In 2010, the Volkswagen Group ranked third on the list with 7.3 million units produced globally.[6]
Top 3 Automakers EU27, 2010
Group Units share
Volkswagen 2,831,039 21.2
PSA 1,805,275 13.5
RENAULT 1,387,645 10.4
Top 3 automakers 2010 by EU27 volume, based on ACEA data
The European ranking of automakers is compiled monthly by the European Auto Manufacturers' Association ACEA. By the end of 2010, the Volkswagen Group was the number one automaker in Europe with 2.8 million units sold in the EU27.[7] Volkswagen has held the top spot in Europe uninterrupted for more than two decades.[36] By the middle of 2011, former global leader Toyota had fallen to place three, with GM first and Volkswagen second. However, the annual ranking is established once per year, with the OICA list usually published in late July or early August of the following year. Officially, the 2010 ranking will remain in place until the 2011 ranking is announced by summer of 2012.[37][38]