Volkswagen Celebrates 100 Million Vehicle Mark

VW Hopes New Models Will Spur Sales out of Current Slump

Volkswagen AG may be struggling in its efforts to bring competitive models to the North American market; efforts which include the challenges that come with an extremely strong Euro, products that are often smaller, less powerful, more conservatively styled and more expensive than rivals, a quality deficit placing its products near the bottom of J. D. Power and Associates various surveys, among others, and resultant all-time low sales figures, but having just delivered its 100 millionth post-World War II vehicle, a silver Touran mini-minivan - a model not available in North America - there is cause for celebration.

More than one fifth of the automakers 100 million total, or 21.5 million cars, comes from a vehicle central to VWs roots, the Beetle. The iconic car, developed with guidance from Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in 1934, was designed to get Germans mobile en masse, and help drive the European countrys then fragile economy.

Many vehicles have been added to the Volkswagen lineup since 1945, with varying degrees of success. After the Beetle came the Microvan, a cult classic now considered to be the forerunner of modern day minivans. VW expanded the lineup in the 60s and 70s with the 411 and 412, Karman Ghia and Thing, among others, before transforming its common chassis architecture to front-wheel drive, and in so doing creating what soon became the small car benchmark with the extremely popular Rabbit (Golf), an honor it kept for the following two decades.

There were others introduced during this era, including the Dasher, Scirocco and Quantum, but only the Golf and its GTI derivative remain to this day. The company has produced a total of 23 million Golfs, globally, and 13 million Passats, Volkswagens midsize sedan/wagon.

While the Golf has outsold the storied Beetle overall, the Beetle remained in production for a longer period of time, ending in June of 2003, even after the New Beetle entered the companys lineup (see automotive news for June 7, 2003: Volkswagen Beetle to End Production This Summer).

Volkswagen sells many other models in its domestic market, as well as other markets around the world, which are not available in North America, the Touran being one of these. Of those models not available in the European market, VWs biggest seller is the subcompact Polo, achieving 9 million unit sales since its inception.

To meet demand, over the years, Volkswagen expanded production in facilities throughout Germany, as well as in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa, and Spain.

Such demand has slumped in recent years, causing some plants to be running under capacity. The companys flagship plant, the Dresden, Germany facility which manufactures the Audi A8, BMW 7-Series, Mercedes-Benz S-Class fighting Phaeton luxury car, is experiencing extremely low production numbers, a problem that is being remedied by the addition of Bentley Continental Flying Spur production.

Ironically, sales of the high-priced Bentley Continental GT have embarrassed VW executives, who cant seem to achieve the same numbers from their much lower priced Phaeton, which shares much of the Bentleys architecture. The addition of the four-door Bentley will only increase the Volkswagen-owned British luxury marques success, and should help VW execs realize that the Volkswagen nameplate, once only associated with value-oriented transportation, shouldnt be labeling premium cars.