X-Nico

15 unusual facts about Volkswagen Group


Alan Gelfand

Since 1995, Alan "Ollie" Gelfand loves to collect Vintage skateboards on eBay and sell parts for Volkswagen and Audi vehicles

David Beckham Academy

It was opened on 28 November 2005, with backing from the Anschutz Entertainment Group and sponsorship from Volkswagen Group and Adidas.

EHC Wolfsburg

The team enjoys substantial financial support from the Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda Auto, which in turn belongs to the Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen Group.

Ingolstadt Manching Airport

Ingolstadt Manching also receives frequent charter flights from Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport transferring personnel of the Volkswagen Group between their headquarters in Wolfsburg and their subsidiary Audi in Ingolstadt.

KeeLoq

KeeLoq is or was used in many remote keyless entry systems by such companies as Chrysler, Daewoo, Fiat, GM, Honda, Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen Group, Clifford, Shurlok, Jaguar, etc.

Shanghai Volkswagen

Shanghai Volkswagen (officially Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd.) is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Anting, China and a joint venture between Volkswagen Group and SAIC Motor.

Vogošća

It grew to prominence in large part due to its automobile manufacturing industry, having deals with German and Swedish companies, including Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen Air Service

Volkswagen Air Service is a German air transport company, owned by Volkswagen Group and based at the Braunschweig-Wolfsburg Airport.

Volkswagen Group China

In 1984, a joint venture (JV) was established between Volkswagen Group and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (now SAIC Motor), creating Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. (SVW).

Volkswagen Group China (VGC) (大众汽车(中国)) is division of the German automotive concern Volkswagen Group in the People's Republic of China.

Volkswagen Group, via its Volkswagen Group China division, has 16 subsidiaries in China, with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), and First Automobile Works (FAW) being the two major Chinese partner companies.

Established in February 1991, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company (FAW-VW) is a large-scale carmaker jointly funded by China FAW Group subsidiary First Automobile Works, Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd.

Walter de Silva

Walter Maria de Silva (born 27 February 1951 in Lecco, Italy) is an Italian car designer who is currently Head of Volkswagen Group Design, and is currently responsible for oversight on the design of all Volkswagen Group passenger car brands including Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT, Škoda as well as Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti.

In 1999 Ferdinand Piëch assigned Walter de Silva to work for the Volkswagen Group's SEAT division, with the aim of injecting verve and sportiness to SEAT's design.

Zentralbibliothek der TU und UdK Berlin

Half of this was paid by the federal government, the other half by the TU and the Volkswagenstiftung.


Bentley Arnage

During the takeover battle in 1998 between BMW and Volkswagen Group for ownership of Rolls Royce and Bentley Motors, BMW had threatened to stop supply of their engines if Volkswagen Group won.

Bentley Crewe

BMW, Mercedes Benz and Volkswagen Group expressed interested in the sale, with Volkswagen eventually outbidding BMW, while Mercedes decided to revive the Maybach-brand.

Challenge X

Second place was awarded to the University of Akron from Akron, Ohio (Sharp) with their design of a through-the-road parallel hybrid with a 1.9 L Volkswagen TDI engine running on biodiesel (B-20), a Siemens 21 kW ACI motor, and a Johnson Controls 165 V battery pack (Challenge X c).

Horch

After Auto Union was purchased in 1964 by the Volkswagenwerk AG, the old brand Audi was introduced again together with the new four stroke vehicle Audi F103.

Lamborghini Calà

In 1994 Chrysler sold Lamborghini to Megatech, the Calà design took shape, but when Megatech sold Lamborghini to the Volkswagen Group in 1998, the concept was shelved.

Patrick Le Quément

Promised promotion, he went to Detroit but returned to Europe in June 1985 when Carl Hahn, Chairman of the Volkswagen-Audi Group, invited him to set up a centre for Advance Design and Strategy.

Pentosin

Pentosin products are supplied directly to many different automotive companies, including all marques of the Volkswagen Group, BMW, Daimler AG marques, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Europe and Porsche.

Rolls-Royce – Bentley L Series V8 engine

With BMW's acquisition of the rights to use the Rolls Royce name in 1998, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars began using BMW supplied V12 engines but Bentley Motors Limited under Volkswagen ownership continued to use highly modified versions of the L Series on its Bentley Arnage, Bentley Brooklands and Bentley Mulsanne models, with VAG W-12 engines being used in its Bentley Flying Spur and Bentley Continental models.

Volkswagen Audi Group AMB Engine

The AMB series engine was an inline 4-cylinder engine, manufactured from 2001 to 2003 by the Volkswagen Group in Ingolstadt, Germany as a replacement for the earlier 1.8T engines, such as the AEB-type engine.

Volkswagen LT

In 1996, the joint venture of Volkswagen and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Commercial introduced the second generation LT. The Volkswagen version shared the body shell with the new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, however the engine and transmission were Volkswagen Group sourced.