Who Makes Volkswagen Cars?

by Leo Wilkinson

Volkswagen is a German company that has become one of the largest car manufacturers in the world. It builds and sells a huge variety of vehicles internationally and is part of the wider Volkswagen Group, which owns other car brands including Audi, Bentley and Porsche.

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Who Makes Volkswagen Cars?

Volkswagen is one of the biggest car brands in terms of sales – in fact in 2023 the only carmaker to sell more cars globally was Toyota. Founded in 1937 and based in Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen started to build cars in earnest after World War II. Its first model –  initially known as the Type 1 but later renamed the Beetle – went on to became one of the best-selling cars of all time.

US sales of Volkswagen models started in 1949 but really picked up in the 50s and 60s. Volkswagen acquired Audi in the late 1960s and a number of other European car brands during the 1990 and 2000s, including Bentley, Seat, Skoda and Porsche. In 2022 VW launched its new US-based Scout Motors brand, which is due to start selling pure-electric SUV and truck models in 2027. Volkswagen has a long-running collaboration with Ford to co-develop vehicles, with the latest example a tie-up to produce related commercial and EV models for European markets.

What Sort of Vehicles Does Volkswagen Make?

Volkswagen has factories all over the world and sells a huge variety of cars globally, from small hatchbacks to large SUVs. It also produces a wide range of commercial vehicles, with many of them market-specific.

The current Volkswagen US lineup is fairly slim and, as you’d expect, heavy on SUVs. The Jetta sedan remains a core model, however, in standard and sporty Jetta GLI forms. The Golf is still on the roster too, although these days only in high-performance Golf GTI or Golf R derivatives. To the SUVs, then – these are the budget-priced Taos, the compact Tiguan and the larger Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport. The ID.4 is a pure-electric crossover SUV, while VW’s only other EV for the US market is the ID.Buzz – a retro-styled minivan inspired by its classic Microbus models.

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by Leo Wilkinson

Leo is a writer and editor specialising in the automotive sector. He has held senior roles at What Car?, MSN Cars, The Telegraph and Cazoo, and since gone on to write for brands including Auto Trader and CarGurus. Over the past twenty-plus years he has driven and reviewed hundreds of cars, from budget-priced runarounds to luxury SUVs.

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