"Volkswagen Chronicle" - Volkswagen chronicles its history

WOLFSBURG, Germany – January 5, 2009: From the establishment of “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH” in 1937 through the founding of the first foreign subsidiary in Canada in 1952 right up to the production start of the Tiguan in 2007 – the Corporate History Department at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft traces the history of the mobility group in the recently published, extensively enlarged “Volkswagen Chronicle” and the multimedia “Internet Chronicle”.

The Volkswagen Group has now gone online with a user-friendly internet archive of its 70 years of existence. Anyone interested in history has access to a comprehensive chronological record in the section entitled “The Group” on the www.volkswagenag.com website. This internet chronicle offers a detailed insight into the development of the company: largely unpublished photographs as well as ads and TV spots illustrate information and facts about model launches, business development at subsidiaries or milestones in the Group’s history plus oddities from the world of Volkswagen. In addition to the internet chronicle, the new history pages also bring information on the “Place of Remembrance of Forced Labor in the Volkswagen Factory”, the Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft Corporate Archives and publications about the company’s history.

Coinciding with the online launch, the Corporate History Department has also published a hardcover version of the “Volkswagen Chronicle” in its “Historical Notes” series. Apart from documenting the various stages in the company’s development and presenting yearly timelines containing additional facts and figures, for the first time the “Volkswagen Chronicle” also traces the history of the Group brands. Milestones in the evolution of the individual brands and their development within the Group alliance are recorded in clear and compact form.

”The transition from a one-product company to a global player in the world automotive industry was a lengthy one,” Dr. Manfred Grieger, Head of the Corporate History Department at Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, comments. “This masterly record of Volkswagen’s history in the form of the “Internet Chronicle” and the “Volkswagen Chronicle” sharpens the contours of the corporate and brand identity. The wealth of data and facts gives users and readers excellent information and entertainment value.”

The “Volkswagen Chronicle” is published in English and German and is available from bookshops priced at €14.90. An English version of the “Internet Chronicle” will go online soon.