“Volkswagen continues to make cars that are loved.”
Volkswagen’s History
Volkswagen means “the people’s car” in German. The company was originally founded in 1937 by the dictator Adolf Hitler’s regime as a national strategy called the National Car Initiative. At that time, Hitler asked Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, one of the world’s leading automotive engineers and designers, to design the car.
Dr. Porsche began developing small, mass-market cars to provide people with inexpensive, high-performance automobiles. Later, after overcoming the dark history of World War II, the Volkswagen Type 1 (Nickname: the Beetle) was created.
After the war, it became a world-famous and long-selling car. In the 1970s, Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of Italy’s leading industrial designers, was invited to create “the Golf I”, the successor to the Beetle. “The Golf I” was the successor to the Beetle. It can be said that “Golf I” created the prototype of the compact car, which is still used as a model by car manufacturers around the world.
Design of Volkswagen (Volkswagen=the people’s car)
Even if you only look at the appearance of the cars released by Volkswagen, you can see that the engineers and designers involved in Volkswagen have a consistent design style. I wonder why?
Walter de Silva, then head of design at the Volkswagen Group, said.
“Simplicity, rooted in functionality and practicality, is in the DNA of Volkswagen.”
-Walter de Silva-
Quoted from www.vw-saitama.co.jp
Volkswagen cars are never influenced by fads or the impact of their appearance, they are not flashy, and at first glance, they look plain and understated. This is because Volkswagen cars are built with an emphasis on practicality and functionality that will never get old no matter how many years you drive them. It has won numerous international design awards, including one for Golf.
Simple Design Rooted in Functionality and Practicality
Volkswagen’s design concept is based on a German design. A typical example of German design is the Bauhaus (art and design school established in Weimar, Germany), which was founded in 1919. The famous artists (painters, designers, architects, etc.) who taught at the Bauhaus spread rational and functional design expression to the world. It was the leading artist movement of its time.
Even today, the influence of the philosophy and expression of manufacturing has been inherited by contemporary artists. This can be felt in the products of Volkswagen.
Things that are loved, things that never get old
People have different tastes in what is loved and what never gets old. However, I would venture to say that things that are functional, rational, simple, and dignified are loved all over the world. I believe that Volkswagen is a car manufacturer that firmly grasps this point.
Currently, due to the effects of climate change, electric vehicles and self-driving cars are being launched one after another around the world. However, no matter how much the form and function change, I want Volkswagen to maintain the simplicity rooted in functionality and practicality. I hope that Volkswagen will continue to release cars that make people think, “This is cool!”
On a personal note, there is a commercial on VW’s official youtube channel that ends with a man’s low, slightly muffled voice saying the VW logo and the phrase “Volkswagen!” This is my favorite phrase that always comes to my mind when I remember Volkswagen. (Currently, the voice is replaced by a female voice, but I prefer the male voice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xzEwpBZi2Q around 2:25 seconds
