22 October,2009 11:37 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Group Shaman launched the Volkswagen Downtown Mumbai, their new showroom in Prabhadevi yesterday.u00a0 The inauguration was done by Niraj Garg, Member of Board and Director Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Jatin Sheth, dealer principal. Here's a look at some interesting facts about Volkswagen:u00a0
'u00a0Volkswagen means 'people's car' in German. Its current tagline is Das Auto (which translates as The Car).
' The Volkswagen Beetle owes its origins to an idea by Adolf Hitler, who wanted to produce cars more suitable for the working man. After taking over as leader of Germany in 1933, he collaborated with Ferdinand Porsche to create a model for what is now known as the Volkswagen Beetle.u00a0
' During the Second World War Volkswagenwerk's productionu00a0 switched to armaments. Some 20,000 forced labourers, prisoners of war, and later also concentration camp prisoners, worked at the plant.
'u00a0After the end of the Second World War, in mid June 1945, mass production of Volkswagen Beetle started. From 1948, Volkswagen became an important element, symbolically and economically, of West German regeneration.
'u00a0Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but only sold two units in America that first year. On its entry to the US market, the VW was briefly sold as a 'Victory Wagon'.
