The Volkswagen Group, headquartered in Wolfsburg (Germany), is one of the world's leading and largest European automakers. In 2018, 10,834,000 cars were delivered to customers around the world (in 2017 - 10,741,500 cars, in 2016 - 10,297,000 cars, in 2015 - 9,930,600 cars, in 2014 - 10,137,000 cars, in 2013 - 9,731,000 cars).

The group includes twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen - passenger cars, Audi, Seat, ŠKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Scania and MAN.

The lineup the concern covers a wide range Vehicle from motorcycles and economical small cars to luxury cars. In the segment commercial vehicles There are a variety of options available, from pickup trucks to buses and heavy duty trucks.

The Volkswagen Group is actively involved in other business areas, such as manufacturing diesel engines large diameter for marine and stationary applications (turnkey power plants), turbochargers, gas and steam turbines, compressors and chemical reactors. The concern also produces automobile transmissions, special gearboxes for wind turbines, plain bearings and clutches.

In addition, the Volkswagen Group offers a wide range of financial services, including dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking and insurance services and fleet management.

The Volkswagen concern has 123 factories in 20 countries in Europe and 11 countries in North and South America, Asia and Africa. Every weekday, the group's 642,292 employees around the world produce approximately 44,170 vehicles and work in other areas of the business. The Volkswagen Group sells its cars in 153 countries.

The concern's goal is to produce attractive and safe cars that are competitive in the world. modern market and setting world standards for their class.

Strategy TOGETHER 2025

"Strategy TOGETHER 2025" - Volkswagen program Group, which marks the beginning of the largest restructuring in the company's history. One of the world's leading automakers is making changes to achieve a leading position in sustainable mobility. To achieve this, the Volkswagen Group is transforming automobile production and plans to launch more than 30 new generation all-electric vehicles by 2025, focusing on Special attention charging technologies for such vehicles and autonomous driving. The development of cross-branding and smart mobility solutions will also become one of the company’s key activities. The strategic partnership with Gett, established in 2016, was the first step in this direction; in the coming years, services such as robotic taxis and car sharing will merge. Successfully transforming a company also means fostering innovation. The Volkswagen Group is advancing digital technology across all brands and in all areas. At the same time, the Volkswagen Group continues to develop partnerships and strategic investments, increasing the efficiency of its operations.

Many drivers who come across the abbreviation VAG do not understand what it means. This abbreviation is the name of the large Volkswagen concern, where, in addition to the name of the same name, automobile plant, includes several hundred companies producing cars, trucks and off-road vehicles. The name VAG in its full form sounds like Volkswagen Audi Gruppe. It came from two concerns, the merger of which happened before the formation of other brands. In the world there are many fans of cars belonging to this group of car manufacturers, and in Europe the concern occupies a leading position, occupying 25% of the market.

What is VAG?

Often, motorists who have heard about this company do not know what its official name is and what cars it produces. The legal name is Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, which translates as “Volkswagen Joint Stock Association”. The designations Volkswagen Konzern and VAG are unofficial but widespread variants that first appeared in print media.

Today there are 342 automobile companies in the community: this will help to understand what VAG is and what the scale of such an enterprise is. According to reports, half of Volkswagen's shares belong to the Porsche group, and the holding itself owns half of Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH. Almost three and a half hundred brands within the concern appeared as a result of the appointment of F. Piekh to the post of chairman of the board, who helped the manufacturer overcome a severe crisis. One of the methods was the purchase of automobile brands, which at that time seemed unpromising and just beginning to fight for competitive positions. All this, coupled with competent management and stricter quality control, allowed us to create the largest concern over the course of a century, supplying cars to countries around the world.

All about VAG family cars

So how many brands are there in this company? Using the resources of this automobile concern, the following brands of cars are produced:

Volkswagen is a plant that produces passenger cars.
AUDI is a brand that previously belonged to the Daimler group, but was bought out in 1964.
Seat - the brand was bought in full in 1990, before that four years earlier the company bought a controlling stake.
Skoda - manufacturer passenger cars, purchased in 1991.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is a special division that produces buses, minibuses and trucks for commercial purposes and cargo transportation.
Bugatti is a brand purchased in 1998.
Bentley is a company acquired from a British owner in the same year as the previous company.
Lamborghini - Italian car manufacturer fast cars, purchased by a subsidiary of Audi in 1998.
Ducati is a Mediterranean manufacturer of luxury motorcycles, acquired by Audi in 2012. According to press reports, the purchase cost more than $1.1 billion.
Porsche - almost half of the shares of this manufacturer belong to VAG; the same concern controls new developments and the introduction of innovative engineering and design solutions.
ItalDesign Giugiaro is an Italian company that was bought by the Lamborghini division in 2010.
Scania is a manufacturer of tractors, dump trucks, trucks, including long ones, used for long-distance cargo transportation and transportation of heavy cargo, including oversized cargo. A block of shares, amounting to almost 71% of the total, was purchased in 2009.
MAN is another plant engaged in the production of dump trucks, trucks, hybrid engines and diesel engines. power units increased power.
NSU Motorenwerke is a brand that was purchased in 1969, but is not used as an independent automobile brand.

Analysts say that a full merger between Volkswagen and Porsche can be expected in the near future, but at the moment this remains only in theory. In any case, the VAG concern is one of the most popular manufacturers not only in Europe, but also in Russia, Asian countries and America, as evidenced by the steady growth of sales and stable profits in most world markets. Fans value cars from VAG brands for their combination of decent quality, improved functionality, stylish design and a wide price range. Manufacturers offer both relatively inexpensive and premium expensive cars for every taste.

Some facts about VAG

Fans of the concern will be interested in learning a number of facts about the company:

In 2005, enterprises produced a total of 5.22 million units of equipment
In 2006, the profit of the VAG concern amounted to 2.75 billion euros after deducting all costs.
Since 2006, the company has been producing a number of Volkswagen models at the Kaluga plant.
Despite the crisis of 2009, the company managed to increase the rate of car sales by 0.6 (this figure demonstrates how seriously the work with customers is organized and the sales markets are established).
In 2010, the plant's net profit amounted to 1.55 billion euros.
The group's head office is located in Wolfsburg.
VAG automobile manufacturing plants are located in 15 European countries, with a total of 48 such enterprises. In addition, the company owns 6 factories in Africa, the USA and Asia.
There are also two museums of the concern in Wolfsburg, one of them is dedicated to the history of the cars ever produced by the company, and the second is dedicated to the intricacies of production.

The official website of the VAG group of companies is located at: https://www.volkswagenag.com/

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In this article we have systematized the information so that you can easily find out what it isVAG (VAG) and what is included in its structure, as well as what brands of cars are part of the concern VAG. We made brief conclusions on the formation and functioning VAG on December 1, 2019.

IN automotive world It is customary to use various abbreviations, which not every person can decipher the first time. After all, most of these abbreviations apply to automobile companies and concerns.

VAG has remained one of the most common and well-known abbreviations for several years. The opinions of ordinary people on the issue of deciphering it were divided. Many people believe that this is simply an abbreviation VOLKSWAGEN variant, the other part claims that everyone belongs to VAG german cars, including Mercedes and BMW.

Let's try to figure out how things really are.

What does VAG stand for?

Previously, the abbreviation VAG stood for Volkswagen Audi Group, but currently it is Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG). The second word in the name means “joint stock company.”

At the moment there is one official German company name - Volkswagen Konzern, which translates as “Volkswagen Concern”, and in English-language sources is the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen group of companies). The group's headquarters are located in Wolfsburg, Germany.

What car brands are part of the VAG group?

Today, the VAG concern includes 12 separate car brands: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, MAN, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Ducati.

At the end of summer 2009 Porsche SE and the Volkswagen Group have reached an agreement under which Volkswagen and Porsche AG have decided to merge by 2011.

By this time, about 50% of VAG shares belonged to the PORSCHE holding. In turn, VAG owns 100% of the shares of the intermediate holding Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, which has the right to produce PORSCHE AG cars.

The Volkswagen group includes the following car brands:

Audi is the last automobile brand of the Auto Union group, acquired from Daimler-Benz in 1964.
NSU Motorenwerke- was purchased in 1969 and became part of the Audi Division. Not used as an independent brand since 1977.
Seat- a controlling stake in the company (53%) was acquired from the state in 1986. Since 1990 The brand is practically the property of the Volkswagen Group, which owns 99.99% of the company's shares.
Skoda- purchased in 1991
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) - was part of Volkswagen AG, but in 1995, thanks to Bernd Weidemann, the previous chairman of the board of the group, it became an independent division within the Volkswagen Group. The division is engaged in the production of minibuses, buses and tractors.
Bentley- (1998) purchased from the British concern Vickers together with Rolls-Royce, but cannot independently produce cars under this brand, since the brand itself was sold to BMW.
Bugatti- (1998)
Lamborghini - (1998)
Porsche

The concern includes 342 companies engaged in the production of cars, motorcycles, special equipment, engines, etc.

The Volkswagen Group owns 48 automobile manufacturing plants in 15 European countries and six countries in America, Asia and Africa. The group's enterprises employ more than 370 thousand people, produce more than 26,600 cars daily, and authorized car sales and service are carried out in more than 150 countries.

Thus, the concernVAG was created with the aim of absorbing smaller car brands into larger car giants. In our opinion, this was done for the following reasons:

Create imaginary competition among automobile manufacturers;
Dictate your price terms for automotive market Europe.

Today we’ll talk about Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft, which literally translates from German as Volkswagen joint stock company. Yes, that’s exactly what VAG stands for, although in our country everyone is used to thinking that VAG is the Volkswagen Audi Group, but it’s more of a popular name.

VAG is also sometimes called Volkswagen Konzern, Volkswagen Group, VW Group.

Let's figure out what Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft is. This joint stock company includes 342 companies that produce cars and everything connected with it. There is a slight legal confusion within the company, which does not give a clear picture of the owner of the concern. Volkswagen is partly owned by Porsche automobil Holding SE, 50.73% to be exact. In turn, Volkswagen AG owns 49.9% of the Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH holding. That is, today it is such an automobile giant consisting of Volkswagen and Porsche. The company is even negotiating a merger into a single Volkswagen Porsche structure.

And yet, how did it happen that one company owns so many car brands? The thing is that at the end of the last century, Volkswagen was experiencing serious financial difficulties. In 1993, Ferdinand Piech was appointed chairman of the board of the concern, who helped the company get out of the deepest crisis.

He managed to optimize the operation of the enterprise well and get out of the crisis while buying up weak ones at that moment car brands.

Which brands are included in the Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft?

1. - produces passenger cars

2. - the company was purchased from Daimler-Benz in 1964.

3. - the company was acquired in 1991.

4. is an Italian brand of passenger cars that was purchased from the state in 1986.

5.Bentley - premium cars, the brand was purchased in 1998.

6.Lamborghini is an automobile company that produces supercars, owned by Audi, which bought it in 1998.

7.Porsche - we have already talked about the confusion with shares, but it is still believed that Porsches are part of Volkswagen.

8.Ducati Motor - a little-known brand in the CIS, but very popular abroad, produces premium motorcycles, also acquired by Audi in 2012.

Scania AB - 70% of the shares were acquired in 2009, the company produces tractor units and trucks, which by the way are in great demand in the Russian Federation

Man - 56% shares were acquired in 2011. The company also produces tractor units, trucks, dump trucks and buses.

There is another company called Volkswagen comercial Vehicles, which produces commercial vehicles. These are cars like the Volkswagen Crafter.

Some facts about VAG

2005 the concern produced 5.22 million cars

In 2006, the concern sold 5.72 million cars, net profit for this period amounted to 2.75 billion euros (Hello AvtoVAZ)

Who owns car brands

The automotive industry has always suffered from the fact that the relationship between manufacturing companies was very difficult to understand. After the global financial crisis thoroughly crippled it in almost all countries, European and American auto giants began to frantically resell their brands. In this confusion, it became unclear who is now responsible for the famous brands. Let's follow up complex history relationships between the largest automobile brands.

German Porsche is owned by the Porsche and Piech families - the heirs of the company's founder Ferdinand Porsche and his sister Louise Piech. The family clan owns shares in the company, which give the right to make key decisions, and a small part of preferred shares listed on German stock exchanges. By the way, the cunning family has a very significant influence on the German automobile market. For example, Ferdinand Piech (grandson of Ferdinand Porsche), headed Volkswagen from 1993 to 2002.

In 2009, the family concern acquired its first major foreign shareholder. It was the Qatari emirate, which bought 10% of the holding’s shares. By the way, myself Volkswagen company actually belongs to Porsche, and vice versa - since 2009, Volkswagen owns 49.9% of the shares of Porsche AG. Initially, the Volkswagen automaker was state-owned. It was reorganized into a joint stock company only in 1960, and the German federal government and the government of Lower Saxony each received 20% of the shares in its capital.

Besides own production, the divisions of the Volkswagen Group are currently: Audi (acquired from Daimler-Benz in 1964), Seat (since 1990, the Volkswagen Group owns 99.99% of the shares), Škoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini (the company was acquired by a subsidiary by Audi in 1998)

Japanese Toyota Motor Corp., whose president is the grandson of the company's founder Akio Toyoda, is 6.29% owned by The Master Trust Bank of Japan, 6.29% by Japan Trustee Services Bank, 5.81% by Toyota Industries Corporation, 9% by treasury shares.

Of all the Japanese automakers, only Toyota can boast of a good “collection” of brands - Lexus, Scion, Daihatsu and Subaru. In addition, Toyota Motor includes truck manufacturer Hino.

Honda's achievement is much more modest. Apart from the premium Acura brand and the motorcycle department, the Japanese have nothing else to boast of.

The Peugeot-Citroen automaker is still 30.3% owned (45.1% of voting shares) by the Peugeot family. Shares are also owned by the concern's employees (2.76%), and there are also treasury shares (3.07%). The remaining shares are in free circulation.

By the way, Peugeot SA acquired a 38.2% stake in Citroën back in 1974, and two years later increased this share to 89.95%. So today, Peugeot almost completely controls the previously independent Citroen.

Another of the world's largest automakers is the Renault-Nissan alliance, which owns brands such as Renault, Dacia, Nissan, Infiniti, and Samsung. In addition, Renault-Nissan has owned 50%+1 share of AvtoVAZ since December 2012, so from now on the Lada brand actually belongs to the French-Japanese alliance.

Over the past 60 years, the Renault concern has gradually emerged from state control. Until 1945, Renault was 100% private. However, during the war, the company's factories were destroyed, and Louis Renault himself was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and convicted. A major entrepreneur died in prison, and his company was successfully nationalized. However, over the years, the government share began to decline. And if in 1996 Renault was more than half state-owned, then in 2005 it already owned only 15.7% of the shares. In 1999, Renault and Nissan entered into perhaps the strongest automotive alliance. Nissan is 44.4% owned by the French manufacturer, and Renault, in turn, gave 15% of the shares to the Japanese.

The fifth largest automobile concern, DaimlerChrysler, is very fond of Arabs. The owner of the top brands Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Smart, the Arab investment fund Aabar Investments (9.1%) is the main shareholder; the government of Kuwait owns 7.2% of the shares, and about 2% belongs to the Emirate of Dubai. Next to such brands, it is surprising to see our KAMAZ, a 10% stake in which Daimler acquired in 2008. The German automaker paid $250 million for KAMAZ shares immediately and left $50 million until 2012. As a result of the transaction, Daimler received one seat on the board of directors of KAMAZ. In February of this year, the concern bought another 1% stake in the truck manufacturer.

The Bavarian BMW concern, which in 1959 was virtually single-handedly saved from sale by Herbert Quandt, still depends on his family. In the late 50s, the rival company Daimler-Benz became interested in the unprofitable German brand, but Quandt did not sell it and invested himself. Today, his widow Joanna Quandt and children Stefan and Susanne control 46.6% of BMW shares and live quite well. Stefan Quandt even served as deputy chairman of the company's board for some time. Despite the fact that at various times Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Honda and Fiat offered very lucrative deals, Quandt’s heirs refuse to sell because they consider preserving the brand for the family a matter of honor.

In recent years, the Hyundai-Kia alliance has rapidly emerged as one of the leaders in the global automobile industry. Currently, the alliance produces cars under the Hyundai and Kia brands, but in the near future the Koreans plan to create a premium brand. According to unconfirmed information, it will be called Genesis.

Hyundai Motor was “raised from its knees” by one single person - Chung Mong Koo, the eldest son of the founder of the Hyundai industrial group. In the late 90s, he took the quality of cars seriously. In just 6 years, the Korean was able to increase sales in the US market by 360% and take fourth place among imported brands.

Ford Motor is run by William Ford Jr., great-grandson of the famous Henry Ford. Henry Ford himself always dreamed of being the sole owner of the company. In 1919, Henry and his son Edsel bought shares of the company from other shareholders and became the sole owners of their brainchild. There is no doubt that the shares were sold to them without any problems, because the first shareholders were: a coal merchant, his accountant, a banker who trusted the coal merchant, two brothers who had an engine workshop, a carpenter, two lawyers, one clerk , owner of a dry goods store and a man who made wind turbines and air rifles.

Until recently, Ford could boast of two more British brands - Jaguar (in 1989, Ford bought Jaguar for $2.5 billion) and Land Rover (in 2000, it was bought by Ford for $2.75 billion). dollars from BMW). In 2008, both brands were put up for sale due to huge debts. In June 2008, they were bought by the Indian Tata Motors.

Today, in addition to cars with its own name, Ford Motor owns the Lincoln and Mercury brands. Ford also owns a 33.4% stake in Mazda and a 9.4% stake in Kia Motors Corporation.

General Motors, which has long held a leading position in the automobile market, is currently controlled by the state (61% of shares). Its main shareholders are: the Government of Canada (12%), United Auto Workers (17.5%). The remaining 10.5% of the shares were divided among the largest creditors.

The famous automaker still owns the Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac and Opel brands. More recently, he also owned a controlling stake in the Swedish company Saab (50%), but after the crisis, in January 2010 he sold the company to a Dutch manufacturer sports cars Spyker Cars.

In the summer of 2008, General Motors decided to sell the Hummer brand, and for almost a year tried to sell it to the Chinese, Russians, and Indians. As a result, the only promising deal with the Chinese Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co fell through, and on May 26, 2010, the last SUV of the brand rolled off the assembly line of the General Motors plant in the American city of Shreveport.

On January 1, 2011, the Fiat Group was divided into two subsidiaries in two sectors: Fiat SpA (passenger vehicles) and Fiat Industrial (industrial vehicles).
From mergers and acquisitions recent years I would like to note the transition of the Volvo brand to control Chinese Geely and the purchase of Indian Tata Motor of English premium brands - Jaguar and Land Rover. The most curious thing in this series is the acquisition of the Swedish brand SAAB by the tiny Dutch supercar manufacturer Spyker.

The once powerful British car industry is now nothing but memories. The most famous British car manufacturers have long lost their independence, but even small English firms have passed to foreign owners. The legendary Lotus company is owned by the Malaysian Proton, and MG bought Chinese company SAIC. At the same time, SAIC sold the Korean SsangYong Motor to the Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra. based on materials from hhttp://www.km.ru