VW, Volkswagen, “Vhidha”, is one of the most popular and loved passenger car brands in Zimbabwe, especially among the youth and young at heart. From the Beetle, the Polo, the Passat, the Microbus, to the latest Golf GTI, the VW is generally a small, sporty, and powerful car. It is a brand that is so popular in neighbouring South Africa that it is a big wonder why not the same in Zimbabwe. Maybe under appreciated by those with the means; maybe under-marketed; maybe costly to run; or maybe just lack of adequate dealer support.

Volkswagen was born just before the start of Hitler’s Second World War in 1937, by the German Labour Front. VW was born out of the desire by Hitler to make cars affordable to the majority. This was successful with the full sponsorship of the Nazi party, producing the rather ugly, ‘round shaped’, VW Beetle; powered by a flat four, air cooled, rear mounted noisy engine. The project was disturbed by the war, only to resume from scratch with the help of British occupation forces. The result of the project was a car that became the world’s best selling by 1972.

After the VW Beetle, VW began began the second phase of its life with the assistance, or collaboration, with Audi. The Passat was one of the first to benefit from Audi technology. Later on was the Golf, with a transversely front-mounted, water cooled engine, and front wheel drive. The Polo followed soon after. These cars were responsible for taking VW to world domination.  

The Group today also owns some luxury brands, such as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, among others. As a group, VW is Europe’s largest vehicle manufacturer, and competes fiercely with Toyota for the mantra of the largest global automaker.

Among the VW Group brands are luxury brands such as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, among others.

The Golf is the automaker’s mainstay brand, in various models, including the saloon version, Jetta/Bora.

 The Polo is VW’s offer to the super mini segment. The growth of the SUV attracted VW with their own offerings, starting with the up market Touareg, before following up with the B-segment Touran, ensuring a larger representation of the passenger vehicle market. The Touareg was relatively successful. It shared the same platform with the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7.

Today we also have the Phaeton and Arteon, both available in South Africa, where VW have an assembly plant.

The relationship with Porshe from birth, and Audi over the years, has ensured quality technology and beautiful and practical models over the years.

Quite a number of VW’s are offered with TDI engines that offer very good fuel economy.

Today, VW has family and performance vehicles (GTI), with direct fuel injection, starting way with the Golf 1 in 1975.