Automotive industry in Germany
[3] In 1926 Daimler-Benz formed from the predecessor companies of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler; it produced cars under the marque of Mercedes-Benz.
[4] The collapse of the global economy during the Great Depression in the early 1930s plunged Germany's auto industry into a severe crisis.
While eighty-six auto companies had existed in Germany during the 1920s, barely twelve survived the depression, including Daimler-Benz, Opel and Ford's factory in Cologne.
Four of the country's major car manufacturers — Horch, Dampf Kraft Wagen (DKW), Wanderer and Audi — formed a joint venture known as the Auto Union in 1932, which would play a leading role in Germany's comeback from the depression.
Other auto manufacturers rebuilt their plants and slowly resumed production, with initial models mostly based on pre-war designs.
(Toolings for the Opel Kadett were taken by the Soviets and used to make the Moskvitch 400-420., which had resumed production of trucks in 1945, began building the pre-war Ford Taunus in 1948.
In 1969, Volkswagen AG acquired NSU Motorenwerke (developer of the Wankel engine) and merged it with Auto Union, but the NSU nameplate disappeared by 1977 when production of the Ro80 rotary-engine saloon (European Car of the Year on its launch 10 years earlier) was stopped largely due to disappointing sales and a poor reputation for reliability.
In 1976, it also opened a factory in Valencia, Spain, where production of the new Fiesta supermini (the first Ford of this size to be built in any country) was concentrated.
Ford's new flagship model, the Granada, was built in Britain, Germany and Spain from the beginning of 1972, although British production was withdrawn after a few years.
Volkswagen was faced with major financial difficulties in the early 1970s; with its aging Beetle still selling strongly all over the world but its newer models had been less successful.
The Polo was Volkswagen's new entry-level model, and was aimed directly at modern small hatchbacks like the Fiat 127 and Renault 5.
The Passat was marketed as a more advanced alternative to traditional larger saloon cars like the Ford Taunus/Cortina, Opel Ascona (sold in Britain from 1975 as the Vauxhall Cavalier) and the Renault 12.
The Scirocco coupe of 1974 was also a success in the smaller sports car market, competing against the likes of the Ford Capri and Opel Manta.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, General Motors integrated Opel with the British Vauxhall brand so that designs were shared with the only difference being the names.
Faced with fierce competition from up-to-date designs from Volkswagen, General Motors moved to a front-wheel drive hatchback in 1979 with the latest version of the Opel Kadett, followed in 1981 by new Ascona (which retained the Vauxhall Cavalier name for the British market).
In 1982 it opened a new plant Zaragoza, Spain, to produce the new Opel Corsa supermini; this car was later imported to Britain as the Vauxhall Nova.
The Ascona's successor, the Vectra (still the Vauxhall Cavalier in Britain), was launched in 1988, but missed out of the European Car of the Year accolade to the Fiat Tipo.
After its rejuvenation during the 1970s, VW modernised its model ranges during the first half of the 1980s and continued to enjoy strong sales in Germany and most other European markets.
The VW Polo was updated in 1990, an all-new model finally arriving in 1994, and the MK3 Golf was voted European Car of the Year shortly after its launch in 1991.
VW moved into the MPV market with the Sharan in 1995, built in Portugal as part of a venture with Ford, which produced the identical Galaxy.
A new Beetle, with front-wheel drive and a front-mounted engine, was launched in 1998, but like the later versions of the original model it was produced in Mexico rather than Germany.
The West of Germany was far more technically advanced in comparison with the East (more than 4.5 million against 200,000 annual production of auto vehicles in the 1980s), with the divide ending with German reunification in 1990.
Besides of direct export, German manufacturers found or bought plants in European, Asian, Latin American countries and in the United States even.
Auto industry of Mexico, Brazil, China, Turkey, some post-socialist East European countries gained by German investments in a significant share.
VW also acquired SEAT of Spain in 1986 and Škoda of Czechoslovakia in 1991, improving the model ranges of these manufacturers and helping increase their market share significantly across Europe.
However, cultural differences and operating losses led to its dissolution in 2007, although Daimler-Benz kept Chrysler's Chinese joint venture, renamed Beijing Benz.
