Volkswagen AG

Aktiengesellschaft (German pronunciation: [aktsinzlaft]; abbreviated AG) is a German term that refers to a corporation that is limited by shares, i.e., owned by shareholders, and may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Volkswagen Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about Volkswagen Group and its parent company, Volkswagen AG. For the Volkswagen brand of cars, see Volkswagen. For Volkswagen vans and light trucks, see Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft

Type

Public company Aktiengesellschaft

Traded as

FWB: VOW, VOW3

Industry

Automotive

Founded

1937 (Germany)

Headquarters

Wolfsburg, Germany

Number of locations

61 production plants in 21 countries[1]

Area served

Worldwide

Key people

Ferdinand K. Pich (Chairman of thesupervisory board) Martin Winterkorn (CEO and Chairman of the board of
management)

Products

Automobiles, commercial vehicles,engines, motorcycles

Production output

8,300,000 units for sale in 153 countries (2011)[2]

Services

Financial services

Revenue

159.3 billion (2011)[2]

Operating income

18.9 billion (2011)[2]

Profit

15.4 billion (2011)[2]

Total assets

199 billion (end 2010)[2]

Total equity

49 billion (end 2010)[2]

Employees

399,380 (end 2010)[2]

Divisions

Automotive Division, Financial Services Division

Subsidiaries

Automotive[1][3][4][show] Financial Services[show] Others[show]

Website

www.volkswagenag.com

Volkswagen Group (sometimes abbreviated to VW Group)[5] is a German multinational automotive manufacturing group headquartered inWolfsburg. It is the worlds secondlargest motor vehicle manufacturer by 2011 unit sales and the largest based in Europe.[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] As of September 2011, 50.73% of the voting rights in Volkswagen AG were held by Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which is also the parent company of Porsche AG.[9] 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 History

o o o

1.1 1937 to 1970 1.2 1970 to 2000 1.3 2000 to present

2 Operations

2.1 Divisions, subsidiaries and marques

3 Corporate affairs

o o o

3.1 Ownership 3.2 Stock market listings 3.3 Leadership

4 Sales and market share 5 European Car of the Year 6 Sponsorships 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit]History [edit]1937

to 1970

Volkswagen was founded on 28 May 1937 as the Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH[10] ("Society for the preparation of the German People's Car", abbreviated to Gezuvor[11]) by the Nazi Deutsche Arbeitsfront[12] (German Labour Front). The purpose of the company was to manufacture the Volkswagen car, originally referred to as the Porsche Type 60, and later better known as the Volkswagen Beetle.[10] On 16 September 1938, the company was renamed Volkswagenwerk GmbH[10] ("Volkswagen Factory limited liability company"). During World War II the Volkswagen plant near Fallersleben primarily manufactured the military Kbelwagen (Porsche Type 82) and the related amphibious Schwimmwagen (Type 166), both of which were derived from the Volkswagen. Only a small number of Type 60 Volkswagens 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 war in Europe, in June 1945, Major Ivan Hirst[10] of the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) took control of the bomb-shattered factory, and restarted production, pending the expected disposal of the plant as war reparations. 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".[13] 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."[14] As part of theIndustrial 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.[15] 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 formerOpel chief Heinrich Nordhoff.

The Audi F103, in production from 1965 to 1972

Production of the Type 60 Volkswagen (re-designated Type 1) 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 Type 1, all with the same basic aircooled, rear-engine, rear-drive platform. These included the Volkswagen Type 2 in 1950, the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia in 1955, theVolkswagen 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 becameVolkswagenwerk 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.[16] 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). [16]

[edit]1970

to 2000

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.[17] 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.[16]

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 nonGerman 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%.[16] 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 koda automobilov a.s. of Czechoslovakia, accompanied with the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Czech car manufacturer,[16] raised later on 19 December 1994 to 60.3% and the year after, on 11 December 1995, to 70% of its shares.[18] Three prestige automotive marques were added to the Volkswagen portfolio in 1998: Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.[16]

[edit]2000

to present

Volkswagen's Golf is the third best-selling car of all-time, selling over 26 million through 2008

On 30 May 2000, Volkswagen AG, after having gradually raised its equity share, turned koda Auto into a wholly owned subsidiary.[16] 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,[19] 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 [20][21] with each Brand Group's product vehicles and performance being respectively under the higher responsibility of Audi and Volkswagen brands. Volkswagen Group revealed on 24 October 2009 that it had made an offer to acquire long-time partner and German niche automotive manufacturerWilhelm Karmann GmbH out of bankruptcy protection.[22] In November 2009, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG approved the acquisition of assets of Karmann, and plan to restart vehicle production at their Osnabrck plant in 2012.[23] In December 2009, Volkswagen AG bought a 49.9% stake in Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG (more commonly known as Porsche AG) in a first step towards an 'integrated automotive group' with Porsche. [24][25][26] The

merger of Volkswagen AG and Porsche SE was scheduled to take place during the course of 2011. On 8 September 2011, it was announced that the planned merger "cannot be implemented within the time frame provided for in the Comprehensive Agreement." As reasons, unquantifiable legal risks, including a criminal probe into the holding's former management team were given. Both parties "remain committed to the goal of creating an integrated automotive group with Porsche and are convinced that this will take place." [27][28] Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki Motor Corporation's issued shares on 15 January 2010.[29] Suzuki intends to invest up to one half of the amount received from Volkswagen into shares of Volkswagen.[30] On 25 May 2010, it was announced that Volkswagen Group, through it subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A., had acquired a 90.1% stake in the Italian automotive design house Italdesign Giugiaro.[31] In only less than three months, the transaction had been completed making the Italian firm a member of the Volkswagen Group.[32] On July 4, 2012 Volkswagen group announced to wrap up the remaining half of Porsche shares for 4.46 billion euros ($5.58 billion) on August 1, 2012 to avoid taxes of as much as 1.5 billion euros which should be paid if the wrap up do after July 31, 2014.[33]

[edit]Operations

Part of the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, its largest worldwide

Rooted in Europe, the Volkswagen Group operates worldwide. Volkswagen Passenger Cars is Volkswagen Group's original marque, and the Group's other majorsubsidiaries include passenger car marques such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, and koda. Volkswagen AG also has operations incommercial vehicles, owning Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, along with controlling stakes in Swedish truck and diesel engine manufacturer Scania AB, andMAN SE.[34] 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.[24][25]

[edit]Divisions,

subsidiaries and marques

The Volkswagen Group comprises 12 active automotive and motorcycle companies, and their corresponding marques: AUDI AG, the Audi Group, and the Audi marque 99.55% ownership; the Audi marque is the sole active marque of the former Auto Union, bought from Daimler-Benz on 30 December 1964. Audi AG wholly owns the private high performance subsidiary company, quattro GmbH. Bentley Motors Limited,[3] and the Bentley marque 100% ownership by Volkswagen AG; the company (at the time known as Rolls-Royce & Bentley Motors Ltd.) was bought on 28 July 1998 from Vickers, but did not include the 'Rolls-Royce' brand name. From July 1998 until December 2002, the Group's Bentley division also sold cars under the Rolls-Roycemarque, under an agreement with BMW, which had bought the rights to the RollsRoyce name, but not the Rolls-Royce operations. From 2003, only BMW has been able to make cars under the Rolls-Royce marque. Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S., and the Bugatti marque 100% ownership via the Volkswagen France subsidiary, Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. was created after Volkswagen Group purchased the right to the Bugatti marque.[35] Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A.,[3] and the Lamborghini marque 100% ownership by Audi AG; company was bought in June 1998. Porsche AG, and the Porsche marque Volkswagen AG purchased 49.9% of the shares in Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH (the holding company of Porsche AG) in December 2009.[36] Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A.,[3] and the Ducati marque 100% ownership by Audi AG; company was bought in April 2012. SEAT, S.A.,[3] and the SEAT marque 100% ownership since 1990; initially in 1982 a co-operation agreement with Audi AG; 51% and 75% ownership in 1986, being the first non-German subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.[16] Suzuki Motor Corporation,[3] and the Suzuki marque Volkswagen AG completed the purchase of 19.9% of Suzuki Motor Corporation's issued shares on 15 January 2010, Volkswagen AG is the biggest shareholder in Suzuki. koda automobilov a.s.,[3] koda Auto, and the koda marque 100% ownership since 2000; initially in 1991 a co-operation agreement and 30% ownership;[16] 60.3% and 70% ownership on 1994 and 1995 respectively[18] Volkswagen Passenger Cars, and the Volkswagen marque the founding marque of the company, 100% ownership. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV), or German: Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge (VWN)

100% ownership; started operations as an independent entity in 1995. VWCV/VWN is in charge of all commercial vehicle developments within the Group, and has control over Scania AB andMAN SE. Scania AB,[3] and the Scania marque (controlling shareholder) Acquired July 2008 becoming the 9th marque of the Group,[1] 89.2% of voting rights as of 31 December 2011.[37] MAN SE, and the MAN marque (controlling shareholder) Acquired July 2011 becoming the 10th marque of the Group, 75.03% of voting rights as of 6 June 2012. The Group also owns five inactive marques which are managed through the companies Auto Union GmbH and NSU GmbH, both of which are 100% owned by Audi AG: Auto Union (the Auto Union company, together with NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU), were merged into "Audi NSU Auto-Union AG" in 1969. The name was shortened to "Audi AG" in 1985, and the interlocked four-ring badge from Auto Union is still used by Audi AG). Dampf-Kraft-Wagen (DKW) Horch NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU) bought in 1969 by Volkswagen AG, and merged into Audi AG; the NSU brand has not been used since 1977, whilst the former NSU manufacturing plant at Neckarsulm is still used for Audi assembly. However, the current Audi AG shares trade under the ticker symbol "NSU".