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Brush up on these Volkswagen facts before your next shift and gain an advantage over your competitors
You’re the type of Volkswagen salesperson who strives to get better every single day. You’ve taken classes, tried innovative marketing tactics, and do your best to provide exceptional customer service. There’s one strategy, though, that can help your boost your commission check even more: learning unique Volkswagen facts about the automaker you’re so passionate about.
Sometimes, a car will almost sell itself. Your customer will see a vehicle on the lot, you’ll take them on a test drive, point out some interesting features, and he or she will be ready to close the deal before the car is back at the dealership.
Other times, however, you need to work a little more. The customer is interested in a car, they enjoy the test drive, but they’re worried about switching brands—they’ve always driven Hondas and can’t quite believe they’re thinking about buying a Volkswagen. In those situations, it helps to have some Volkswagen facts in your back pocket that might be able to push them in the right direction.
Learning VW info will show your commitment to the brand and convince the customer you believe in what you’re selling. And worse case scenario? Your new found knowledge may just come in handy during a rousing game of bar trivia with your pals.
Volkswagen facts to use as sales tools
1. Volkswagen means “people’s car.”
The company was founded May 28, 1937.
2. The first Volkswagens were inexpensive.
The first Volkswagen car built in Germany cost between $140 and $250 in U.S. dollars.
3. The Volkswagen world headquarters is in Wolfsburg, Germany.
The U.S. headquarters is in Herndon, Virginia—the company moved to Herndon in 2008 after being in Englewood Cliff, New Jersey since 1955.
4. Ferdinand Porsche and his son Ferdinand Porsche Jr. developed the Beetle.
However, the vehicle didn’t become known as the Volkswagen Beetle until a 1959 advertising campaign. Porsche Jr., of course, went on to create his own car company.
5. Volkswagen cars arrived in the United States in January 1949.
The first two arrived in New York City.
6. The original Beetle remained in production for 65 years.
The Volkswagen Beetle was produced between 1938 and 2003.
7. The Beetle is a movie star.
The 1968 Disney movie “The Love Bug” stars a Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie. Herbie appeared in six different films, with the most recent being 2005’s “Herbie: Fully Loaded” starring Lindsay Lohan.
8. The basic line didn’t expand until 1973
When the VW Beetle’s popularity began to decrease a bit in the early 1970s, the company decided to expand its offerings. Some models were duds, but others—the Golf, Passat, Scirocco, and Polo—were all very popular.
9. Volkswagen had a hand in creating the fastest street-legal production car in the world.
The Super Sport version of the Bugatti Veyron had a top speed of 268mph, and Volkswagen owns Bugatti. The last Bugatti Veyron was sold in 2015.
10. Volkswagen doesn’t just own Bugatti—there’s more.
The Volkswagen Group also sells Audis, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Porsches, SEATs, and Skodas.
11. In the 1990s, Volkswagen made multi-colored cars.
Following the success of the idea in Europe, VW of America introduced the Harlequin color schemes on the Mk3 Golf for 1996; they made 264 Harlequins. There were four base colors, and each car was assembled fully in one of those colors. Then, at the end of the assembly line, panels were unbolted and swapped to different vehicles—it was all planned, though, as a color chart had been prepared ahead of time to ensure no two adjacent panels would be the same color.
12. Volkswagen is a record setter.
In 1972, the VW Beetle surpassed the longstanding worldwide production record of 15 million vehicles, set by Ford Motor Company’s Model T between 1908 and 1927.
13. The Volkswagen GTI is a winner.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI was named Good Housekeeping magazine’s 2017 “Best New Compact Car.” The evaluation is based on value, safety, handling, interior design comfort, and onboard technology.
14. Volkswagen cares.
Volkswagen Group of America was honored by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation as a top LGBT-inclusive business. It was one of the 517 major U.S. companies to score a 100 percent on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index.
Even if you work in a Volkswagen dealership, you will very likely sell other car brands during your career as well. Once you’ve got these VW facts committed to memory, consider learning facts for a few more brands that you have an interest in, like Honda, Jeep, Toyota, Nissan, and Ford.
Want turn-by-turn navigation for finding and evaluating an automotive CRM? Download our guide, called Choosing the Right Automotive CRM. It’s full of tips and tricks that you can use to select the right one for your dealership. Written by Howard Leavitt – a former car dealer with over 30 years of industry experience.
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