If you believed that the Mini Cooper was initially a symbol of Britain, you should know that BMW, a German luxury automaker, owns and manufactures Mini automobiles. Following a deal with Volkswagen Group, who now have custody of Bentley, BMW is now the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, another British luxury car brand that attracts attention everywhere it travels.
In 1917, the engine manufacturer Rapp Motorenwerke changed its name to Bayerische Motoren Werke, and in 1922 it amalgamated with the aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke. It initially began selling aviation engines before extending its manufacture to include motorcycles and cars in the future.
In relation to the Volkswagen group, numerous well-known automobile brands are owned by this German automotive behemoth. Volkswagen currently owns all of Audi, Scania, and Porsche, as well as Skoda Auto, Lamborghini, and Ducati in its entirety. The Volkswagen Group obviously makes great decisions when selecting its auto brands because they can claim to hold some of the best and most recognizable auto brands in the world.
In order to mobilize its populace for the future, the brand needed to have a car for the masses. Only a few of the models were produced before the start of World War II, at which point the factory shifted its focus to producing military vehicles.
Following the war, production of the company’s iconic Beetle began to pick up again, eventually reaching a total of over 21 million. Volkswagen’s corporate headquarters are in Wolfsburg, Germany. These assets are within the corporation’s control:
- Volkswagen
- Bentley
- Audi
- Bugatti
- Porsche
- SEAT
- Lamborghini
- Skoda
- MAN
- Scania
- Ducati
In This Article...
A Guide to Automobile Companies
The major automakers with present presences in the United States are listed below, along with the brands they sell.
BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce are all owned by BMW Group. Smart and Mercedes-Benz are owned by Daimler AG. Lincoln and Ford are owned by Ford Motor Co. Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac all belong to General Motors. Hummer is back as a GMC subsidiary brand. In order to co-develop EVs, GM and Honda have an official collaboration. Acura and Honda are owned by Honda Motor Co. It collaborates with GM. Sony Honda Mobility is the name of the electric vehicle firm they founded with Sony. Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia are all owned by Hyundai Motor Group. Mazda is owned by Mazda Motor Corp. Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Infiniti are all owned by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Following the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A., a new company called Stellantis was created. According to the explanation, the word is derived from the Latin verb “stello,” which means “to dazzle with stars.” Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram are now under Stellantis and are FCA brands that are offered in the United States. Other Stellantis automobile brands include Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall. Subaru is owned by Subaru Corp. Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by Tata Motors. Owned by Tesla. Lexus and Toyota are owned by Toyota Motor Corp. Additionally, it owns stock in Suzuki and Subaru. The automotive brand VinFast, along with VinHomes, VinBigData, VinBioCare, and VinBrain, are all owned by VinGroup. Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Scout, and Volkswagen are all brands owned by Volkswagen AG. Volvo, Polestar, and Lotus are all brands owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (ZGH).
BMW vs. Volkswagen: When did Volkswagen purchase Bentley?
Volkswagen is now simply a brand collector. The others had been rather uncomplicated, but they were going to compete with BMW, a similarly large German automaker.
Vickers, the company that owns Bentley, stated in 1997 that it would be selling Rolls-Royce Motors. Because BMW provided engines and other components for both Bentley and Rolls-Royce, it made sense for a consumer to choose them. Additionally, BMW and Vickers produced airplane engines. Volkswagen outbid BMW when they offered PS430m, beating over their PS340m bid. However, this did not imply that Volkswagen was the sole owner. Instead, they just purchased the Rolls-Royce grille form and Spirit of Ecstasy trademarks, together with the production and administrative facilities, model names, and vehicle designs. They were denied the right to use the Rolls-Royce name or logo. In charge of them was Rolls-Royce Holdings.
BMW began providing parts for a new line of Rolls-Royce and Bentley vehicles in 1998. To license the Rolls-Royce name and logo, BMW paid Rolls-Royce PS40 million.
After a protracted legal battle and negotiation process, it was decided that Volkswagen would have access to the names and emblems from 1998 to 2002 while BMW would continue to provide engines and other parts.
Beginning on January 1, 2003, Volkswagen would be the only manufacturer of vehicles bearing the Bentley and BMW/Rolls-Royce brands.
Volkswagen upgraded the Bentley Crewe facility with PS500 million to boost output. Volkswagen reportedly contributed close to $2 billion to Bentley’s resurgence.
To commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, Bentley gave her an official State Limousine.
Group
The Group consists of ten brands from five different European nations: Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, and Ducati. Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, A KODA, SEAT, and CUPRA are also included. The Volkswagen Group also has a large number of additional brands and business divisions, including financial services. Volkswagen Financial Services includes leasing, leasing for customers and dealers, banking, insurance, and fleet management services.
The Volkswagen Group is laying the groundwork for the biggest reform process in its history with its aNEW AUTO – Mobility for Generations to Comea Group strategy and future program: the realignment of one of the best automakers to become a leading provider of sustainable mobility on a global scale. To do so, the Group will change its core automotive business, which will include, among other things, the introduction of another 30 or more fully electric vehicles by 2025 and the expansion of battery technology and autonomous driving as new key businesses.
BMW owns Volkswagen, right?
Bentley is a brand of Bentley Motors, a British luxury car manufacturer that is a member of the Volkswagen Group in Germany. Since 1998, Bentley has been a part of VW, with its headquarters in Crewe, United Kingdom.
Walter Owen Bentley and his brother Horace Miller Bentley established Bentley in 1909. In 1931, during the Great Depression, the car manufacturer entered receivership and was bought by British Central Equitable Trust, which eventually turned out to be a front for Rolls-Royce.
In order to isolate the production of Rolls-Royce and Bentley automobiles from the vitally important Rolls-Royce aerospace sector, the British government nationalized Rolls-Royce in 1971 after which Rolls-Royce Motors was established in 1973. Vickers, a multinational engineering company, acquired Rolls-Royce Motors in 1980.
Vickers chose to sell in 1997. Volkswagen AG significantly outbid BMW, with the transaction concluding in 1998. Ferdinand Piech, the head of Volkswagen, believed he had acquired all of the assets of Rolls-Royce and Bentley, but the fine print showed that Rolls-Royce plc, the aerospace company, actually owned the Rolls-Royce brand and mark and had only licensed it to the automotive business. Even worse, it then opted to transfer the license to BMW, its business partner in the production of commercial aircraft engines.
Given that BMW provided the engines for the Rolls-Royce Seraph and Bentley Arnage, Volkswagen had little leverage. Volkswagen produced Rolls-Royce vehicles for BMW between 1998 and 2003, when the company had finished developing the brand-new Phantom.
The Bentley Bentayga, its first SUV, the Continental GT, and the Flying Spur are some of its most recent models. Bentley employs certain VW plants across Europe in addition to Crewe, where it assembles the majority of its vehicles.
Who owns Volkswagen?
The Volkswagen Group of America, a division of the Volkswagen Group, is in charge of overseeing the manufacturing and marketing of Volkswagen automobiles. Every year, the Volkswagen Group of America collaborates with more than 600 privately held Volkswagen dealerships.
Do the Germans own VW?
The German government established the Volkswagen Group, commonly known as Volkswagen AG, in 1937 with the goal of mass-producing an affordable “people’s car.” German city of Wolfsburg serves as the headquarters. German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront), a Nazi group, formerly ran the business.
Do VW and Audi belong to the same corporation?
Is Audi a Volkswagen property? Yes. The bigger Volkswagen Group, with its headquarters in Germany’s Bavaria, includes Audi. Other car brands owned by the Volkswagen Group include Bugatti, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, and others.
VW is still produced in Germany.
Volkswagen vehicles are currently produced all over the world, although the Golf, Rabbit, and GTI models are still produced in the German city of Wolfsburg, where the firm is headquartered. Volkswagen automobiles are produced by a business with headquarters in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany.
VW bought Ferrari, right?
Is Ferrari Owned by VW? Ferrari is not owned by Volkswagen. Ferrari is still one of the few really independent supercar brands in the world since the majority of its ownership is open to the public.
Where is VW’s plant located?
The largest VW manufacturing site is located in Wolfsburg, Germany, the brand’s birthplace. The following automobiles are created at this facility: Touran by Volkswagen
What is the name of VW in Germany?
The “Kafer,” a Nazi prestige project that went into development in 1934, marked the beginning of the Volkswagen brand. The “Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH” (Company for the Preparation of the German Volkswagen Ltd.) was officially founded on May 28, 1937. In 1938, the company’s name was changed to “Volkswagenwerk GmbH,” and it erected its primary facility in what is now Wolfsburg. The Volkswagen (“people’s car”), however, was unable to be built in large quantities due to the beginning of war and integration in the arms industry; instead, military vehicles and other munitions were made employing forced labor.
The British gave Volkswagen the go-ahead to construct the Volkswagen saloon at the end of 1945 after the war. Volkswagen became a symbol of Germany’s economic miracle with the Type 1 (Kafer) and Type 2 (Transporter) models, especially as a result of the company’s strong export emphasis after becoming a joint stock corporation in 1960. In the 1970s, new, adaptable manufacturing techniques emerged, ushering in the Passat, Scirocco, Golf, and Polo models as the first of a new generation of Volkswagen vehicles. Through improvements in vehicle technology, adaptable production, and forward-thinking international cooperation, growth was accelerated in the 1980s.
Volkswagen is becoming one of the most successful volume automobile manufacturers in the world as its globalization progresses, and the company currently provides cutting-edge solutions for problems like e-mobility and digitization.