Volkswagen

**Volkswagen** (**VW**; ) is a car company from Germany. The word *volkswagen* means "People's car" in German. Its headquarters are in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was started in the 1930s, at the request of the country's leader, Adolf Hitler, to produce a car designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

## History 
In the 1930s Adolf Hitler was looking for someone who could make a cheap car that the common German worker could afford. At the same time, Ferdinand Porsche had been working for years on a cheap car that could hold a family and would drive like a real car, not a micro car. He had already designed and built small cars with rear engines and shaped like a beetle (for better aerodynamics). At this time, owning a car in Germany was something only for the rich people, and most car companies were not interested in making a low-cost car. Porsche's company, also called Porsche, only made designs for others at that time. So Porsche could not find anyone to make the small car that he wanted.

Though Hitler never learned to drive, he was very interested in cars (he also created the autobahn, which led to the U.S. interstate highways). Hitler wanted the car to hold four people. It was to be cooled by air instead of water. The car needed to be able to travel at least 100&nbsp;km/h, or about 60&nbsp;mph, and use no more than 7 liters of gasoline for 100 kilometers (about 34 mpg). The car companies in Germany at the time didn't want to make this new low-cost car, so Hitler formed a new company, run by the government. The first name given to the car was "KdF-Wagen." "KdF" stood for *Kraft durch Freude*, or "Strength through Joy." Some were made, but by the time the factory was finished in 1938, World War II started. The factory then built jeep-like cars for the German military instead. 

After the war, people from the United Kingdom and the United States reopened the factory and started making cars again. The factory was in ruins from the war and could only make a few cars at a time. The British military were in charge of this section of Germany. At first they tried to find another car company to rebuild the factory. Henry Ford was offered the company for free. After looking it over, his adviser said "Mr. Ford, what we are being offered here is not worth a damn!" This scandal was called dieselgate. The cars were designed to operate in a clean mode while being tested, but run dirty (make too much pollution) in normal driving. Volkswagen was fined, their CEO left, and they have changed their car design and have since added electric vehicles.

In November 2024 workers at Volkswagen's Osnabrück plant in Germany threatened strike action as part of ongoing regional protests over wage disputes. The strikes were organized by the IG Metall union. The plant, reportedly a potential target for closure under Volkswagen's restructuring and cost-cutting plans, operates under unique labor contract terms allowing strikes before December, unlike other Volkswagen plants in western Germany. IG Metall has called for a 7% wage increase, contrasting with an offer of a 3.6% raise over 27 months from employers' associations, who have described the union's demands as unrealistic. 

* Volkswagen Golf Mk8 (2019–present)
* Volkswagen Lamando L (2022–present)
* Volkswagen Multivan (T7) (2022–present)
* Volkswagen Passat/Magotan/Passat Pro (B9) (2023–present)
* Volkswagen Talagon (2021–present)
* Volkswagen Tavendor (2022–present)
* Volkswagen Tiguan Mk3 (2023–present)
* Volkswagen Tayron Mk2 (2024–present)
* Some other car companies are allowed (by Volkswagen), to use that *car platform*.

## References 
## Other websites 
* Volkswagen Global
* Volkswagen Germany (in German)
* Volkswagen México - History 
* Volkswagen USA official website