7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

1/6

VW History 1930's-1945

Hitlers original design sketch bears little resemblance to the final car

The history of the Beetle goes back to Germany before World War 2, the economy was poor andmost auto manufacturers were building large expensive cars. There was a strong requirement fora cheap car that was affordable to the average German. Ferdinand Porsche had previouslyworked on some other small cars for Zndapp and NSU that used many elements later to beincluded in the Beetle. The Type 32 prototype NSU of 1934 was an air-cooled rear engined fourcylinder horizontally opposed powered car that used torsion bar suspension and featured beetle-like styling, there were also some other cars that used this innovative technology around this timeas it was considered modern design. The idea of a car for the people appealed to the young Adolf

Hitler who himself could not drive, but was a car fanatic. Hitler was apparently influenced by theachievements of Henry Ford and his production lines - reading Ford's biography while in prisonduring 1923.

Hitler became chancellor in February 1933 and declared at the Berlin auto show his intentions toget Germany motoring. Then a year later at the 1934 show he stated that his government wouldsupport the development of a 'peoples car'. Impressed by Porsche's design capabilities, Hitlerdelivered him the design brief of a car that could carry two adults and three children at a speed of60mph with at least 33 mpg. The price was to be 1000 Reichmarks, not much more than amotorcycle at the time. Ferdinand Porsche was not convinced that a car could be made socheaply, but Hitler was not one to be refused so Porsche accepted the challenge. Hitler had also

by this time sketched his ideas of how the car should look, although the sketch bears littleresemblance to the final car.

W30 Prototype 1937By late 1935 the first prototypes were on the autobahns, the V1 saloon and a convertible V2,these cars had aluminium bodies mounted over traditional wooden frameworks. In 1936 steelbodies mounted over all-steel floorpans were used, powered by a 984cc, 22bhp engine that couldreach a top speed of around 65 mph. Another 30 prototypes were then made by Daimler-Benzwho were not keen to make such a cheap car as they thought it would damage their high-classreputation. The development program was then transferred to the Nazi German Labour Frontwho would use German workers contributions to pay for a new factory. The Daimler-Benz builtcars were tested at an SS barracks near Stuttgart and driven in shifts by 200 soldiers, until any

http://www.pre67vw.com/history/porsche.aspxhttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/images/prototype.jpghttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/images/sketch.jpghttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/porsche.aspx

7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

2/6

minor problems were corrected. During this time Dr. Porsche visited the US to view some of theproduction methods used there, and recruited some German immigrant engineers who hadworked in these factories.

By 1937 tests were under way of the W30 prototype, this car differed slightly in design by

having strengthening lines pressed into the roof - almost certainly to strengthen the body afterusing thinner metal in order to cut down costs.

By Mid 1937, Erwin Komenda was working on a new body design - it was decided that the rearslots were to be replaced by a glass window, a problem with the curved aerodynamic bodystyling as curved glass was very expensive at this time. So Komenda came up with the idea oftwo flat windows in the back and the split window Beetle was born. The rear window meant thatthe strengthening folds needed to be redesigned, and some other design improvements were alsomade such as enlarging the front trunk area. The coachbuilder company Reutter, based inStuttgart made a full size wooden mockup of the car and the shape of the Beetle that was toremain mostly unchanged until 1967 was now in place. In early 1938 three versions of this

design were quickly built, a sedan, a sunroof model and a convertible - given the names 801, 802& 803 because of their registration plates.

Hitler at KDF-Stadt

On the 26 May 1938, Hitler ceremoniously laid the cornerstone of the new factory, a huge event

witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people and 150 reporters, all controlled by the Nazipropaganda machine. It was here that Hitler declared that the model would be known as the'KdF-Wagen' or 'Strength through joy' wagen and the surrounding town that was built to supportthe factory would be known as the 'KdF-Stadt'. Hitler also introduced a savings scheme wherethe public could collect stamps that would eventually pay for the car.

http://www.pre67vw.com/history/komenda.aspxhttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/images/hitler.jpghttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/komenda.aspx

7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

3/6

From May 1938, some more pre-production cars were built and named the VW38 series. Thebodies of these cars were still built by the Reutter coachbuilding company at an average of 2bodies a week. Click to view photos of the 6th VW38 car, now restored.

Full Production was to start in September 1939 - which unfortunately turned out to be the same

month that World War Two was declared. With the money diverted to the Nazi war effort, noneof the thousands who had collected their stamps ever received their beetle.

Prototype Schwimmwagen

As the War gathered pace, the KdF-Wagen was put on hold and production changed to militaryvehicles. The 'Kubelwagen' used the tried and tested and very successful chassis and air-cooledengine developed for the peoples car. In 1942 the Kubelwagen was joined by theSchwimmwagen - a four wheel drive vehicle capable of driving on land and in water. By 1943over 12,000 prisoners of war were working at the factory, which was by now mostly repairingaircraft.

For most of the war, the KdF plant had managed to escape heavy bombing, the new town wasnot on many allied maps. Near the end of the war the factory was used to manufacture the V1

'buzz bomb'. This bomb was an unmanned aircraft, powered by an air-breathing pulsejet enginethat had the ability to reach Britain from Germany, and the factory became a main target for theallied bombing raids. It is estimated that over 3500 V1 bombs hit London before several daylightbombing raids by the US left the factory in ruins.

http://www.pre67vw.com/shows/thumbs.aspx?id=48http://www.pre67vw.com/shows/thumbs.aspx?id=48http://www.pre67vw.com/history/images/schwim.jpghttp://www.pre67vw.com/shows/thumbs.aspx?id=48

7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

4/6

CRM consists of three components: Customer, Relationship, and Management (Figure 1).CRM tries to achieve a single integrated view of customers and a customer centricApproach [Roberts-Witt, 2000].

Figure 1. Components of CRM

Customer:The customer is the only source of the companys present profit andFuture growth. However, a good customer, who provides more profit with lessResource, is always scarce because customers are knowledgeable and theCompetition is fierce. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish who is the realCustomer because the buying decision is frequently a collaborative activityAmong participants of the decision-making process [Wyner, 1999]. InformationTechnologies can provide the abilities to distinguish and manage customers.CRM can be thought of as a marketing approach that is based on customerInformation [Wyner, 1999].

Relationship:The relationship between a company and its customers involvesContinuous bi-directional communication and interaction. The relationship canBe short-term or long-term, continuous or discrete, and repeating or one-time.Relationship can be attitudinal or behavioral. Even though customers have aPositive attitude towards the company and its products, their buying behaviorIs highly situational [Wyner, 1999]. For example, the buying pattern for airlineTickets depends on whether a person buys the ticket for their family vacationOr a business trip. CRM involves managing this relationship so it is profitableAnd mutually beneficial. Customer lifetime value (CLV), discussed in Appendix

7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

5/6

C is a tool for measuring this relationship.

Management.CRM is not an activity only within a marketing department.Rather it involves continuous corporate change in culture and processes. TheCustomer information collected is transformed into corporate knowledge that

Leads to activities that take advantage of the information and of marketopportunities. CRM required a comprehensive change in the organization andIts people.

Case study:

VOLKSWAGEN

Ferdinand Porsche then designed a car for NSU in 1933

that was known as the Type 32. the word "Volkswagen"means "people's car."Volkswagen AG is the largestautomobile maker in Europe. More than 36 millionvehicles carry on their logo. Like other automobilemanufacturers, thecompany is well informed about its customers and heavilydepends on thisinformation. However, they lose contact with the carowner after the firstchange of ownership (after an average 3.7 years). As aresult, the company

does not have current information about many of its customers. [Chojnacki,2000]In 1988, the company started its Customer Come First marketing strategy.Under this strategy, all of the decision-making processes are based on theVoice of Customer. The company carefully monitored their response to35

advertisements, customer expectations, and customer satisfaction. Customerforums and focus group are used to hear the customer voice.Volkswagen developed services such as service guarantee, the emergency plan,the mobility guarantee, the customer club, and toll-free service phone. Alladvertising media are designed toward two-way communication. This allows

the company to obtain useful information such as lifestyle, demographic, andbehavioral data.The company maintains a central database to provide club card, bonus pointprograms, club shops, and Volkswagen magazine. Every contact points with acustomer gives the company more information about the customer, so thecompany can constantly improve the quality and value of the customerdatabase.

http://www.pre67vw.com/history/porsche.aspxhttp://www.pre67vw.com/history/porsche.aspx

7/29/2019 VW History 1930.Doc-11111

6/6

Today, Volkswagen is the largest automaker in Europe. However, it has not always been this way...

Literally, the word "volkswagen" means "people's car." In Germany, the idea of a people's car

wasn't exactly a new one. Before the 1930's, there had been many efforts to create simple carsthat everyone could afford, but none met with profound success. Almost all cars before 1930, even

if they were designed to be simple enough for the average person, ended up costing more than theaverage worker's yearly wage.

Meanwhile, the year is 1930, and Ferdinand Porsche had just set

up an automotive design company, which became known as the

Porsche Bro. The company patented a sophisticated independentfront suspension system, which consisted of transversely mounted

torsion bars connected to two trailing arms on each side. At thetime, this was lighter than most other common types of suspension.

In 1931, a German motorcycle company, Zndapp, asked Porsche if

he could design a suitable car for them. Porsche came up with a

streamlined 2 door sedan, which had lines similar to the Beetle. Itwas designated the Type 12. Zndapp wanted to put in a 1.2 liter

radial engine from one of their motorcycles...this was the end ofthe line for this design, as it didn't make it any further.

Porsche then designed a car for NSU in 1933 that was known as

the Type 32. This car looked even more similar to the upcoming KdF Wagen than the Type 12 did.

This car looked similar to the Tatra V570, and shared many mechanical similarities. After WorldWar II, the Volkswagen company paid Tatra for compensation, since Tatra believed its technology

and design was pirated in development of the KdF Wagen. Eventaully, NSU dropped the Type 32

project.