the Volkswagen Beetle (along with the microbus), became a counterculture symbol in America and helped imports to gain a crucial foothold in the American market for the first time. In 1965, shortly after the company was renamed Volkswagenwerk AG, it acquired Auto Union GmbH from Daimler‐Benz, thereby gaining the Audi make. In 1974, after Kurt Lotz took over as chairman, Volkswagen almost went bankrupt, due to diminishing sales, rising labor costs, increasing competition from Japanese automakers, and the end of fixed exchange rates (“Funding Universe”)…
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