[1] The Volkswagen assembly plant in Brazil was established after the Brazilian government prohibited the import of fully built-up vehicles in 1953.

[3] After Juscelino Kubitschek's import substitution programs began taking effect as Volkswagen was compelled to open a proper factory in São Bernardo do Campo.

[6] The former employees put accusations on the firm of allowing its workers to be detained and tortured under Brazil's military rule.

[8] In 2014, the "truth commission" convened by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff found documents that "dozens of companies, including Volkswagen and other foreign automakers, helped the military identify union activists", including Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

[10] In 2015, activists and former VW employees in Brazil spoke out in public, accusing the company's silence about the persecution of its workers.

[5] In the July 2017 ARD interview, former VW CEO Carl Hahn denied ever having known of security police activities.

[13] In 2012, Volkswagen built 852,086 units (including CKD kits), making them the biggest producer in the country and second in sales.

[14] In 1986, Volkswagen entered a deal with Paccar to sell their trucks with Peterbilt or Kenworth badging in the United States.