In terms of market capitalization, the Volkswagen Group is the second largest group in Germany after SAP. The company was founded in Wolfsburg in 1937 and has been a stock corporation since 1960. Ten brands from five European countries now belong to the group, which produce their vehicles at around 120 production sites across Europe. This also leads to conflicts.
In the past few weeks, Volkswagen has had to fight an internal dispute about the further development of its software strategy. The Wolfsburg-based company wanted to give all brands clear guidelines as to which central software components they should use in the next model generations. You can read here which brands the group bundles under its roof.
Which brands belong to Volkswagen?
Volkswagen passenger cars: The core brand of VW
VW ID Aero
The middle-class model should occupy an important segment for VW.
Probably the best-known brand of the VW Group is Volkswagen Passenger Cars. It is the Group’s core brand and was founded in Wolfsburg in 1937. Today the VW Golf is the best-selling car in Europe.
Volkswagen passenger cars employ around 183,000 people worldwide, around 120,000 of them in Germany. In 2021, the car manufacturer generated sales of 76 billion euros. In total, he delivered 4.9 million vehicles, around eight percent fewer than in the previous year. Sales of electric cars increased by a whopping 73 percent to 369,000 vehicles compared to the previous year.
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The traditional brand recently presented its new e-flagship, the VW ID.6. It is the fifth electrified model that the manufacturer is bringing to market. Every fifth fully electric car on German roads is now made by VW. According to its own statements, VW Passenger Cars intends to invest almost 18 billion euros in digitization and electrification by 2026.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: The leading brand for autonomous driving
VW Bulli
The VW Bus Multivan is the most successful model from VW Commercial Vehicles.
(Photo: VW)
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles was founded in Hanover in 1995 and is the leading manufacturer of light commercial vehicles in Germany. With around 24,000 employees, it sold around 326,000 vehicles in 2021, 5.6 percent fewer than in the previous year.
The most successful model series is the VW Bus Multivan, also known as the “VW Bulli”. The first model rolled off the production line in March 1950 at the VW plant in Wolfsburg. The VW Crafter was also particularly popular last year.
For the group, VW Commercial Vehicles is the leading brand for autonomous driving. At the IAA Mobility 2021, the manufacturer presented one of five self-driving prototypes. From 2025, the model is to be mass-produced for mobility services such as MOIA. The technology built into the vehicle for autonomous driving is already being tested in a test area in Munich.
ŠKODA: From bicycle to automobile manufacturer
ŠKODA
ŠKODA boss Thomas Schäfer presents the new electric model Enyaq.
(Photo: obs)
The company ŠKODA Auto a.s. is based in Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic and was initially founded in 1895 as a bicycle manufacturer. In a very short time, the company developed into an automobile manufacturer. Just ten years later, the first car with the ŠKODA logo rolled off the assembly line.
With a history spanning more than 120 years, ŠKODA is one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in the world still in production today. The brand has belonged to the VW Group since 1921. In 2021, the former bicycle manufacturer sold 878,200 cars and generated sales of 17.7 billion euros. The company currently employs almost 45,000 people and sells a total of four electric ŠKODA models:
Citigo-e iV
Octavia iV
Superb iV
Enyaq iV
SEAT: The takeover by Volkswagen developed from a cooperation
Seat Ateca
The compact SUV also impresses with fair prices.
The Spanish car manufacturer SEAT S.A. was founded in 1950 in Martorell, Catalonia. At that time he was Spain’s first manufacturer of family cars. Today SEAT also produces in Barcelona.
The cooperation with Volkswagen AG began in 1982 and developed into a complete takeover by VW in 1986. Together with its subsidiary CUPRA, SEAT employs more than 14,500 people. The company sold 391,200 vehicles worldwide last year, 73,300 of them on the German market. The most popular models:
SEAT Arona
Seat Ibiza
SEAT Leon
Although the manufacturer has developed into the leading car brand in Spain, SEAT has been the only car brand in the VW group to be in the red over the past two years. At the balance sheet press conference on March 23, 2022, SEAT CEO Wyne Griffiths emphasized that the company’s continued existence can only be secured with the CUPRA brand.
While the parent company VW is investing in new, electrically powered CUPRA models, neither plug-in hybrids nor fully electric models can currently be ordered from SEAT.
Read: Wayne Griffiths to make Seat an electric car maker
CUPRA: A subsidiary of SEAT
CUPRA Born
The Cupra Born initially started with a 58 kWh battery and an output of 150 kW/204 hp.
The CUPRA brand is a subsidiary of SEAT founded in 2018 and is also based in Martorell. Like the traditional Spanish brand, CUPRA also has its production in Martorell and Barcelona. Since the introduction of the brand, all activities in motorsport have been continued under CUPRA.
With the CUPRA Born, the first fully electric model has already been launched. In June of this year, the SEAT subsidiary presented three more models that will be on the market by 2025 – a plug-in hybrid and two other purely electrically powered vehicles.
Last year almost 40 percent of global sales were generated in Germany. A total of around 79,300 vehicles were sold. According to SEAT boss Wyne Griffiths, the group should sell 500,000 cars with the CUPRA logo in the medium term. The new sports brand would thus overtake the traditional SEAT brand in the future.
Audi: The first subsidiary of Volkswagen AG
Audi Q4 e-tron
The Audi Q4 e-tron has been on the market since June 2021.
(Photo: dpa)
Audi Automobilwerke GmbH was founded in Zwickau in 1909 and converted into a stock corporation in 1914. After the end of World War II, the company was expropriated and its factories dismantled. Just one year later, Audi was re-established in Ingolstadt. The automobile manufacturer is still based there today.
Audi is one of the world’s leading premium automobile manufacturers and became the first subsidiary of Volkswagen AG in 1965. Despite falling sales figures, Audi was able to increase its sales in 2021 by 6.2 percent to 53.1 billion euros. The Audi Q3 and Audi Q5 series were particularly popular. The VW subsidiary currently employs around 85,400 people.
By 2026, Audi wants to bring more than 20 all-electric models onto the market and then only develop electric models.
Lamborghini: As part of Audi AG, the brand belongs to VW
Lamborghini Huracan Evo Spyder
With the Aventador and the Huracán, Lamborghini currently produces two super sports car model series.
(Photo: Reuters)
Lamborghini S.p.A is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars. Since it was founded in 1963, the company’s headquarters have been in Sant’Agata Bolognese.
Last year, the company, with around 1,800 employees, achieved record sales of EUR 1.9 billion. With the Aventador and the Huracán, Lamborghini currently produces two super sports car model series. The Italian VW subsidiary has also been producing hybrid and electric models since 2019.
According to Lamborghini, the entire product portfolio will be hybridized by 2025. To this end, the company intends to invest 1.5 billion euros in converting production – the largest transformation in the company’s history. As part of Audi AG, the company has belonged to the VW Group since 1998.
Bentley: Part of Volkswagen since 1998
Bentley Bentayga
The Bentayga is Bentley’s first SUV.
Bentley Motors Ltd. was founded in Great Britain in 1919 and has been based in Crewe since 2002. The luxury automobile manufacturer is the official purveyor to the court of the British royal family and, according to surveys, the most popular brand in the upper luxury segment. The company has belonged to Volkswagen AG since 1998. Within the group, Bentley has been part of the Audi Group since January 2022.
Last year, Bentley employed around 4,000 people and delivered more than 14,600 vehicles – 31 percent more than in 2021. Sales last year were 2.8 billion euros.
According to Bentley, it wants to launch a new electric model every year for a period of five years from 2025. By 2030, Bentley aims to become fully carbon neutral, building on its carbon-neutral production facility in Crewe.
Porsche: A long association with Volkswagen
Porsche Tycan
The Porsche Taycan is the manufacturer’s first all-electric sports car.
Porsche AG is based in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and was founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche. The automaker shares a long history with VW.
The Beetle was the first VW model to be designed by Ferdinand Porsche in Stuttgart and was only manufactured in VW production in Wolfsburg after the end of the Second World War. The first Porsche sports car was also produced from VW parts. In the years from 1969 to 1974, the two companies merged the sales of their automobile brands and in 1993 Ferdinand Piech, the grandson of the Porsche founder, became VW boss. Porsche has been part of Volkswagen AG since 2012.
The Stuttgart sports car manufacturer employs around 36,000 people and achieved sales of 33.1 billion euros last year. Almost 40 percent of the vehicles delivered in Europe were partially or fully electrified. In total, more than 301,900 vehicles were delivered worldwide – a record number. The Porsche Macan and the Cayenne were particularly popular. The delivery figures for the first all-electric Porsche Taycan more than doubled in 2021.
According to Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, vehicles with a fully electric drive will account for 80 percent of all new vehicles by 2030. To achieve this goal, the company is investing in charging infrastructure and the development of high-performance battery cells.
Ducati: The only manufacturer of motorcycles owned by Volkswagen AG
Street Fighter V2
The Ducati Streetfighter V2 has a 955 cc 90-degree V engine.
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A was founded in Bologna, Italy, in 1926 and is the sole manufacturer of motorcycles for Volkswagen AG. The company employs more than 1,600 people and has been part of Volkswagen AG since 2012.
Ducati closed the past financial year with the highest sales in the company’s history and delivered a record number of 59,447 motorcycles worldwide. At EUR 878 million, sales were around 24 percent higher than in the previous year.
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