This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2009) |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S. (1955 ) |
Headquarters | Reston, Virginia, U.S. |
Area served | North America |
Key people | Kjell Gruner (CEO) [1] |
Products | Automobiles, auto part |
Brands | |
Services | Automotive financial services |
Parent | Volkswagen Group |
Subsidiaries | Electrify America |
Website | volkswagengroupofamerica.com |
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (sometimes referred to as Volkswagen of America, abbreviated to VWoA), [2] is the North American operational headquarters, and subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group of automobile companies of Germany. VWoA is responsible for six marques: Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Volkswagen, and in addition is the exclusive importer and distributor of Bugatti and Rimac cars in the U.S. [3] [4] It also controls VW Credit, Inc. (operating as Volkswagen Financial Services), [5] Volkswagen's financial services and credit operations. [6] The company is headquartered in Reston, Virginia. [7] [8]
In Germany, the parent company Volkswagen AG is responsible for eight marques of the group, from six European countries: Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
As of March 2008, VWoA has 20 operational facilities, spanning coast to coast, and its primary objective is "to offer attractive, safe and environmentally sound vehicles which are competitive on an increasingly tough market and which set world standards in their respective classes". [9]
On July 16, 2008, Volkswagen AG announced plans to build its first production facility in the United States [10] since the closure of its Westmoreland Assembly Plant in 1988. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant was inaugurated on May 24, 2011, and initially built the US-spec Volkswagen Passat and in 2017 started production of the Volkswagen Atlas. [11]
With effective from 12 December 2024, Kjell Gruner is the new Chief Executive Officer of VWoA, taking the helm from Pablo Di Si who has stepped down from the post on his own request. [12] [13]
Formed in October 1955 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, to standardize dealership service in the United States, it grew to 909 Volkswagen dealers in the US by 1965 under the leadership of Dr. Carl Hahn. Under him and his successor as president of Volkswagen of America, J. Stuart Perkins, VW's U.S. sales grew to 569,696 cars in 1970, an all-time peak, when Volkswagen captured 7 percent of the U.S. car market and had over a thousand American dealerships. The Volkswagen Beetle was the company's best seller in the United States by a wide margin.
From then on, however, intense competition from American and Japanese automakers caused VW sales in America to fall as much as 87 percent between 1970 and 1992, despite the introduction of new front-drive models in 1975 to replace the Beetle and its rear-engined, air-cooled stablemates. As a result, the number of dealerships in the U.S. was also reduced to 630 by the mid-1990s. As of 2007, there were 596 operating Volkswagen dealerships in the country.
VWoA inaugurated the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania, in 1978. [14] This was the first modern venture by a foreign automaker at making cars in the United States. In 1988, the plant was closed. In the early 1980s, the manufacturing division and the sales division were merged, and Volkswagen of America moved to Troy, Michigan, as a result, settling in Auburn Hills, Michigan, in 1991 ( 42°38′43.2″N83°12′55.4″W / 42.645333°N 83.215389°W ).
Volkswagen of America's sales hit rock bottom in 1993, with fewer than 50,000 cars sold that year. [15] [16] Sales began to recover the following year with the introduction of the third generation of the Golf and Jetta. By the end of the decade, thanks to effective advertising and the launch of more competitive new products, including the New Beetle in 1998, the VW brand was back on firmer ground. Volkswagen of America went on to sell 355,648 cars in 2001, its best year since 1973.
In the 2000s sales tapered off somewhat due to competition, quality issues and delays in product introductions, and VW's U.S. sales for 2005 totaled 224,195 – a reduction of about 37 percent from four years earlier. New models for the 2006 and 2007 model years, such as the Passat, Rabbit, and GTI resulted in a sales growth of 4.9% for 2006 with sales of 235,140 vehicles. Profitability still remained an issue, though; Volkswagen of America had not turned a profit for its parent company since 2002. [17] In January 2007, Volkswagen of America president Adrian Hallmark publicly stated[ citation needed ] that he planned to get the subsidiary back to profitability in two to three years. He hoped to introduce new models for North America, and develop new marketing to encompass the whole brand as well as individual cars.[ citation needed ] Stefan Jacoby soon replaced him, and Volkswagen of America continued to look at new products to add to its lineup.[ citation needed ] [18]
In the meantime, a new advertising agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, helped rejuvenate VW's presence in the U.S. as well. Its ads for the fifth-generation GTI have sparked interest in the brand, not seen since the launch of the New Beetle, and ads for the fifth-generation Golf/Rabbit hatchback translated into initial strong sales for that model. Due to new air pollution rules promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the diesel powered VWs with TDI-PD technology could no longer be produced after December 31, 2006. For the 2009 model year, VW introduced a new generation of diesels, based on common rail technology. These would meet air pollution standards in all 50 states. The first of these units was made available for sale in August 2008. VW sold 2050 Jetta Sedan TDIs and 361 Jetta Sportwagen TDIs that first month.[ citation needed ] Volkswagen was later charged with three felonies and fined $25 billion for defrauding the American government when it was discovered that their vehicles were only passing laboratory emissions testing due to company tampering of their system's internal software.
In October 2009, Interpublic Group's Deutsch, Los Angeles, the ad agency of renowned ad man Donny Deutsch, won Volkswagen's American advertising account - fourteen years after Deutsch had tried for VW's advertising business against Arnold Advertising. [19]
On September 6, 2007, Volkswagen of America announced it would relocate its North American headquarters to Herndon, Virginia. [20] [21] Volkswagen sales are particularly strong in the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as both coasts. The company indicated that it is important for them to locate in a region where their customer base is strongest. Presently, the Big Three domestic brands dominate the Midwest US, especially Metro Detroit where the company was formerly located.
Volkswagen of America began its move from Auburn Hills to Herndon in April 2008. The company anticipated that 600 of the 1,400 staff would remain at Auburn Hills in the call center and technical services positions, while 400 jobs would transferred to Virginia. About 150 employees in Michigan were expected to move to Herndon, Volkswagen of America President and CEO Stefan Jacoby said. The four hundred remaining jobs were to be cut.
The state of Virginia, among 14 locations that Volkswagen of America considered for the move, offered Volkswagen $6 million in incentives that will be awarded pending Volkswagen's fulfillment of employment and other various quotas. [22]
On July 15, 2008, after an intense, months-long battle between Huntsville, Alabama, a site in Michigan and Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company's supervisory board chose Chattanooga as the location for the new plant. [23] This $1 billion investment was expected to result in production of about 150,000 cars a year by its slated opening in 2011, playing a major role in the company's strategy to gain more than 6% of the car market, or about 800,000 cars on top of the 230,000 it produced in America in 2007, by 2018. [10] [24] This plant also became Volkswagen Group of America's manufacturing headquarters in the U.S. [24] The plant was inaugurated on May 24, 2011. [25] [26]
As of March 2018, Volkswagen Group of America has the following 20 "Operational Facilities" across the US: [9]
The following is a list of the models currently available in the American market:
Sedan |
---|
Jetta |
SUV |
Tiguan · Atlas · Atlas Cross Sport ·Taos · ID.4 |
Performance |
Golf GTI · Golf R |
Minivans |
ID. Buzz |
The total number of new vehicle sales year-by-year in the U.S. market is as follows:
Calendar Year | Total American sales |
---|---|
1970 | 569,696 [27] |
1997 | 137,885 [28] |
1998 | 219,679 [29] |
1999 | 315,563 [30] |
2000 [31] | 355,479 |
2001 | 355,648 |
2002 [32] | 338,125 |
2003 | 302,686 |
2004 [33] | 256,111 |
2005 [34] | 224,195 |
2006 | 235,140 |
2007 [35] | 230,572 |
2008 [36] | 223,128 |
2009 [37] | 213,454 |
2010 [38] | 256,830 |
2011 [39] | 324,402 |
2012 [40] | 438,133 |
2013 [41] | 407,704 |
2014 [42] | 366,970 |
2015 | 349,440 |
2016 | 322,948 |
2017 [43] | 339,676 |
2018 [44] | 354,064 |
2019 | 363,322 [45] |
2020 | 325,784 [46] |
2021 | 375,030 [47] |
2022 | 301,069 [48] |
2023 | 329,029 [48] |
The following is a list of the Audi models currently available in the American market:
The following is a list of Audi Sport currently available in the American market:
Calendar Year | Total American sales |
---|---|
1995 | 18,124 |
1996 | 27,379 |
1997 | 34,160 |
1998 | 47,517 |
1999 | 65,959 |
2000 | 80,372 |
2001 | 83,283 |
2002 | 85,726 |
2003 | 86,421 |
2004 | 77,917 |
2005 | 83,066 |
2006 [49] | 90,116 |
2007 | 93,506 |
2008 [50] | 87,760 |
2009 [50] | 82,716 |
2010 | 101,629 |
2011 | 117,570 |
2012 [51] | 139,310 |
2013 [52] | 158,061 |
2014 [41] | 182,011 |
2015 | 202,202 |
2016 | 210,213 |
2017 [53] | 226,511 |
2018 [54] | 223,323 |
The following is a list of the models currently available in the American market:
The following is a list of the models currently available in the American market:
The only vehicle sold new under the Bugatti label is the Chiron.
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company is owned by Volkswagen AG, a controlling stake of which is owned by Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Porsche's current lineup includes the 718, 911, Panamera, Macan, Cayenne and Taycan.
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party, it was revitalized into the global brand it is today after World War II by British Army officer Ivan Hirst. The company is well known for the Beetle and serves as the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group, which became the world's largest automotive manufacturer by global sales in 2016 and 2017.
The Volkswagen Passat is a nameplate of large family cars (D-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973 and also marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat — in saloon, estate, and hatchback body styles.
The Audi A3 is a subcompact executive/small family car (C-segment) manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi AG since September 1996, currently in its fourth generation.
The Audi A5 is a series of compact executive / grand touring coupé cars produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi since June 2007. The A5 range additionally comprises the coupe, cabriolet, and "Sportback" version of the Audi A4 saloon and estate models.
The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan, New York City in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Sunday after Easter.
The Los Angeles Auto Show, also known as the LA Auto Show, is an auto show held annually at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is open to the public for ten days, filling 760,000 square feet (71,000 m2) of exhibit space. Since 2006 the event is held in November or December.
Motorcars first arrived in Mexico City in 1903. Since then, several vehicle brands have been especially successful. A number of manufacturers make vehicles in Mexico, and many brands have been and continue to be available.
The Audi e-tron is a series of electric and hybrid cars shown by Audi from 2009 onwards. In 2012 Audi unveiled a plug-in hybrid version, the A3 Sportback e-tron, released to retail customers in Europe in August 2014, and slated for the U.S. in 2015. A decade after the unveiling of the first e-tron concept at the 2009 International Motor Show Germany, Audi's first fully electric e-tron SUV went into production in 2019.
The Volkswagen Passat for the North American and Chinese markets is a mid-size sedan that debuted in January 2011 at the Detroit Auto Show. It replaced the B6 Passat in the North American market. The Passat NMS was marketed in North America, the Middle East, South Korea and China, with no wagon/estate version available. In China, it is sold alongside the long-wheelbase version of the European Passat known as the Magotan.
SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd., formerly known as Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Anting, Shanghai, China and a joint venture between SAIC Motor and Volkswagen Group. It was founded in 1984 and produces cars under the Volkswagen, Škoda and Audi marques. It is the second automobile manufacturing joint venture in China after American Motors and the first German car manufacturer to enter China.
FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between FAW Group and Volkswagen Group which manufactures Audi and Volkswagen marque passenger cars for sale in China. It was founded on 6 February 1991.
The Volkswagen Group MQB platform is the company's strategy for shared modular design construction of its transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout automobiles. It was first introduced in the Volkswagen Golf Mk7 in late 2012. Volkswagen spent roughly $8bn developing this new platform and the cars employing it. The platform underpins a wide range of cars from the supermini class to the mid size SUV class. MQB allows Volkswagen to assemble any of its cars based on this platform across all of its MQB ready factories. This allows the Volkswagen group flexibility to shift production as needed between its different factories. Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen Group marketed the strategy under the code name MQB, which stands for Modularer Querbaukasten, translating from German to "Modular Transversal Toolkit" or "Modular Transverse Matrix". MQB is one strategy within VW's overall MB program which also includes the similar MLB strategy for vehicles with longitudinal engine orientation.
The Audi A7 is an executive five-door liftback produced by Audi since 2010. The coupé variant of the Audi A6 saloon/estate, the Audi A7 features a sloping roofline with a steeply raked rear window and integrated boot lid, and four frameless doors. A sport version called the S7 has been made since 2012, and a high-performance model called the RS7 has been in production since 2013. An extended-wheelbase three-box, four-door saloon derivative called the A7L has been produced in China since 2021.
Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited is the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of German automotive manufacturing company Volkswagen Group, formed in 2001.
Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly was a manufacturing complex located 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, near New Stanton — and noted for manufacturing 1.15 million Volkswagens from 1978 until 1987. When VWoA began manufacturing in the unfinished Chrysler plant, it became the first foreign automobile company to build cars in the US since Rolls-Royce manufactured cars in Springfield, Massachusetts, from 1921 to 1931.
The Volkswagen Bratislava Plant is an automotive factory and co-located test track owned by Volkswagen Group in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The Volkswagen Group MEB platform is a modular car platform for electric cars developed by the Volkswagen Group and its subsidiaries. It is used in models of Audi, Cupra, Škoda, and Volkswagen, along with Ford through partnership. The architecture is aimed to "consolidate electronic controls and reduce the number of microprocessors, advance the application of new driver-assistance technology and somewhat alter the way cars are built" by the VW Group.
The Audi Q4 e-tron is a battery electric compact luxury crossover SUV produced by Audi. It is based on Volkswagen Group's electric MEB platform and is the fourth fully-electric model in the Audi e-tron series after the Audi Q8 e-tron, e-tron GT and Q2L e-tron. Production began in March 2021, with the production version being unveiled in April 2021.
The Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen ID.5 are battery electric compact crossover SUVs produced by Volkswagen. Based on the MEB platform, the ID.4 is the second model of the Volkswagen ID. series. The production version of the ID.4 debuted in September 2020 as the first fully-electric crossover SUV under the Volkswagen brand, while the coupe-shaped variant of the ID.4 is marketed as the Volkswagen ID.5 and was presented in November 2021.