Volkswagen: 50 years ago, the Beetle broke a record
ANNIVERSARY On February 17, 1972, after 15 million units had been built, the Beetle surpassed the production record of the Ford Model T, previously the most-built car in the world. A milestone in the history of Volkswagen.
At the beginning of the 1970s, Volkswagenwerk AG was in a phase of upheaval, and the company had to overcome major challenges. Strong competition, saturated markets and new customer needs led to a difficult market environment.
The company countered the first signs of crisis by cutting costs in its operations. On the other hand, however, it also had to invest heavily in a new model range.
The excellent sales figures of the Beetle enabled VW to start a new success story with the Golf from 1974. Instead of the rustic air-cooled boxer engine in the rear, the new model generation got water-cooled front engines, and from then on the front wheels were driven.
Wolfsburg relegated Tin Lizzy to 2nd place
Even before the Beetle left the big stage to the Golf, it set a new record. A Beetle 1302 S rolled off the production line in Hall 12 of the Wolfsburg plant at around 1:45 p.m. on February 17, 1972: The 15,007,034th car assembled in series surpassed the Tin Lizzy, the Model T built by Ford from 1908 to 1927.
Not everyone believed this of the little people's car at the start of production: Even Heinrich Nordhoff, who took over management of the VW plant in January 1948, was initially skeptical about the Beetle. Designed in the 1930s, the car still had a number of shortcomings, but these were minimized by constant improvements.
Award for doers and plant workforce
In November 1958, a jury consisting of representatives of the five major American engineering associations awarded Ferdinand Porsche posthumously, as well as Heinrich Nordhoff and the plant workforce, the Elmer-Sperry Prize for their services to the design, manufacture and distribution of the Volkswagen.
The production anniversary of one million was celebrated as early as August 1955. On November 29, 1967, the ten-millionth Beetle rolled off the production line, and exactly 50 years ago the 15-million mark was broken.
