Volkswagen models

Volkswagen: from the Beetle to Golf and the ID era

Volkswagen’s history begins in difficult political circumstances. Development of the Nazi regime’s state-backed “people’s car” project started in 1934, and the company that became Volkswagen was established in 1937. A factory and new town were built for the project, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented the promised civilian car from reaching buyers. The plant instead became part of the German armaments industry and used forced labour. That origin remains an essential part of the later company’s history.

Post-war recovery

British military administration restarted civilian vehicle production at the end of 1945. The Type 1, later known internationally as the Beetle, became the foundation of Volkswagen’s post-war recovery and export growth. The Type 2 Transporter added a practical commercial branch and developed an identity of its own. Together, those rear-engined vehicles defined the early post-war marque.

A new front-wheel-drive family

Volkswagen reinvented its passenger-car range in the 1970s. Passat arrived in 1973, followed by Golf in 1974 and Polo in 1975. Front-mounted engines and front-wheel drive replaced the Beetle formula, while the hatchback Golf became the brand’s central model across successive generations. Passat served larger-family and business-car roles; Polo sat below Golf; and later models such as Tiguan extended the familiar Volkswagen naming structure into SUVs.

The ID era

The next major transition is electric. Volkswagen introduced ID.3 in 2019 as the first member of a new battery-electric family and a strategic chapter after Beetle and Golf. ID.4 then carried the ID identity into a larger crossover. The shift changes the technology beneath the cars, but Volkswagen continues to organise its range around recognisable model families serving distinct mainstream roles.

Volkswagen on DriveSize

DriveSize’s model pages provide waypoints through the modern range, including the 2021 Polo, 2024 Golf, 2024 Passat, 2024 Tiguan, 2023 ID.3 and 2021 ID.4. For a cross-brand view of the electric chapter, the electric SUV guide places ID.4 alongside several of its contemporaries.