Volkswagen

automobile
Also known as: KDF-Wagen

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Assorted References

  • automotive industry
    • automobile assembly line
      In automotive industry: Europe after World War II

      …most emphasis centring on the Volkswagen. At the end of the war the Volkswagen factory and the city of Wolfsburg were in ruins. Restored to production, in a little more than a decade the plant was producing one-half of West Germany’s motor vehicles and had established a strong position in…

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    • John F. Fitzgerald Expressway
      In automobile: European postwar designs

      …but by the mid-1950s the Volkswagen, originally envisioned by Adolf Hitler as a “people’s car” for Germany, had a firm grip on the American market, accounting for half the import sales.

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  • history
    • Volkswagen Tiguan
      In Volkswagen Group

      Volkswagen production expanded rapidly in the 1950s. The company introduced the Transporter van in 1950 and the Karmann Ghia coupe in 1955. Sales abroad were generally strong in most countries of export, but, because of the car’s small size, unusual rounded appearance, and historical connection…

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    • John F. Fitzgerald Expressway
      In automobile: Japanese cars

      …\$100 more expensive than the Volkswagen Beetle, it was slightly larger, better-appointed, and offered an optional automatic transmission.

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design by

    • Mays
      • octagonal electric teakettle
        In industrial design: Postmodern design and its aftermath

        …served as chief designer of Volkswagen of America, where he devised the concept for the new Beetle (1998), the bulbous form of which recalled the basic lines of the original, designed by Ferdinand Porsche some 60 years earlier. In 1997 Mays was appointed head of Ford’s design studio, which, under…

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    • Porsche