Volkswagen translates to "people's car" in German.

Ferdinand Porsche, a well-known designer for high-end vehicles and race cars, had been trying for years to get a manufacturer interested in a small family car. In April 1934, Hitler gave the order to Porsche to develop a Volkswagen.

On entry to the U.S. market (shortly after the end of World War II) the VW Beetle was briefly sold as a Victory Wagon.

The Love Bug starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford.

Wolfsburg was founded on 1 July 1938 to house workers of the newly erected Volkswagen factory. In 2013, Wolfsburg ranked as the richest city in Germany with a GDP per capita of $128,000 due to its thriving auto industry.

Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but sold only two units in America that first year.

The white Volkswagen Beetle on the cover of the Beatles' Abbey Road album belonged to one of the tenants in the block of flats across from the studio. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car.

"Fahrvergnügen" means "driving enjoyment" in English. The term itself is not standard German but a neologism (compound noun) created especially for the 1990s advertising campaign. One of the tag lines incorporating the word was: "Fahrvergnügen: It's what makes a car a Volkswagen".

The Volkswagen Karmann Ghia combined the chassis and mechanicals of the Type 1 (Beetle) with styling by Italy's Carrozzeria Ghia and hand-built bodywork by German coachbuilding house, Karmann.

The German Labour Front was the National Socialist labour organisation which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany after Adolf Hitler's rise to power. To help Hitler keep his promise to have every German capable of owning an affordable car, the DAF subsidized the construction of an automobile factory, which was partially paid from worker's payroll deductions. However, none of the 340,000 workers who were paying for a car ever received one, since the factory had to be retooled for war production after Germany's invasion of Poland.