Politics of Volkswagen Essay

One can be forgiven for every typesetlooking the categories of simple machines when asked roughly politics in mavens country they seemed too customary and mundane to be considered anything semi governmental. In the mainstream thought, machines are a means of superman, to expire from wholeness point to another. Some conservationists may argue on the environmental agenda, piece of music others may think of gondolas as one of the main industries impulsive the miserliness. Nothing more than(prenominal) is thought of these mean machines that move the world. Yet, the history rail track railroad cars ca manipulation has political backgrounds, given that they were considered technological advancements in their early middle-aged age. Using Volkswagen as the main case study, this paper leave alone examine cars in a political- optic aspect and the bushel they hand on the race by the ages. It will also consider the consequences of the car the scotch impact by the ca r industry, environmental impact by the car and the assorted law and policies enacted for the car and the users. Last exclusively not least, the range of a functionic Volkswagen mallet will be characterd and explained on its influence on the lives of publicy. As this paper attempts to sweep up a lot of ground, the focus will be on the impact by Volkswagen on the world.The History of VolkswagenThe Fhrer addressed the nation on the Volkswagen.It is infrastood that the term Volkswagen was a brainchild of Adolf Hitler, the Fhrer of the national socialist Ger small-army. However, what is slight understood is how Volkswagen came ab surface. The supposed bulks simple machine was more than political rhetoric it was a determination in Hitlers political ambitions to stomach the car to the tidy sumes in a time where the auto was out of reach and seemingly for the elite. Although thither were cars from the rival companies, like the Mercedes 170H, the Volkswagen was a car company s tarted off from scratch, fue take by the sees by the Chief Designer, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. Brought to calculateher by a car salesman, Jakob Werlin, both Hitler and Porsche discussed ideas of this new frame that the national socialist g everyplacenment was willing to embark on. Though there were toughened hesitation from the Society of German auto Manufacturers and the preparations were taking longer than usual, the interest for the Volkswagen never died d have. Herr Wilhelm von Opel, the owner of the Volkswagens rival Opel, produced a equal car for the mass public in 1936. Hitler quickly doused water on the Opel project by taking its key supplies of iron and steel under the control of national socialist government, olibanum making the 1,000 Marks Volkswagen Project a possibility.Along with the national socialist might, the Volkswagen project was rolling with estate, funds and supplies from the Nazi Government. The Fhrer and committee were led around on the inspection of the Volkswagen. The significance of Volkswagen as a car project is of colossal importance here. The term Peoples Car was no longer a catchphrase for the politicians it was not bait for the people, but some(a)thing tangible for the people to admire and work towards. This worked rise up with the Germans they were under solid times and the conceptualization of a Peoples Car would be the best form of motivation to work hard to join the ranks of real nations after the double fiasco of piece War 1 reparations and the capacious Depression.Towards the end of the decade, exhibitions of the car prototypes were present throughout every Nazi parade, heavy(a) the German people try for that they soon could afford the car. Never has an experience of a car fuelled public hopes, this contributed to a fervent support for the Nazi rule. The Prototypes The trine ready-made prototypes for public viewing. The Volkswagen Project was almost dead at the end of the World War, but for a Major Iva n Hirst and Dr. Heinz Nordhoff, who later became the Managing theater director of Volkswagen. The Nazi Government no longer existed the political mantra behind the project was no longer applicable. The name was also no longer united to the Nazi government, although its history was steeped in the Nazi programs. Yet, despite on the whole these, the Volkswagen patsy and group went to influence the world in unalike ways, sticking stringently to the philosophy behind its name the Peoples Car.Visuals of Volkswagen through with(predicate)out the decades of Volkswagen, the strong advertisements and pictorials of Volkswagen proved popular with people around the world, starting with Ger some(prenominal). The early days of Volkswagen was during the Hitler period and he managed to get 300,000 Germans to sign up for the Strength-through-Joy (Kraft Durch Freude) savings project for the Volkswagen. Although this did not result in any form of Volkswagen supplied, it was an indication on how strong the demand for the Volkswagen was.English translation 5 Marks a week you need to save, if you want to own a car. The poster exclusively around Nazi Germany was like the above, where the Strength-through-Joy movement was in place. The savings precis was a motivation to achieve the desired Peoples Car and for a lot of the working class Germans, this proved to be tremendously popular.English Translation Strength-through-Joy Calendar 1939. The Calendar was one of the many tools to get the Germans interested in the Volkswagen. After the revival of the company, the phenomenon spread to America, where the impression of Volkswagen was enormously popular with the middle-class folks. This set the impression that the Volkswagen was indeed a Peoples Car.The association with diplomats increased the prestige of the Volkswagen. Volkswagen has brought prestige, once associated with the elites, down to the man on the street.Volkswagen was known to have such teasing ad designs in America, and was not afraid to include celebrities or bring in creative artwork with cheeky descriptions. This escalated the Volkswagen brand to a cultus, with different subcultures following it, to wit the Hippies movement with the Volkswagen beetle. Volkswagen, with its range of iconic cars, managed to inspire grownist thinking amongst the people eon ensuring the capitalist saint existed hard-earned money for a well-deserved reward.The Symbol of VolkswagenThe Volkswagen logo over the yearsThe symbol of Volkswagen has not visibly changed much over the years, as the recognizable VW has been the signature of the brand. The Strength-through-Joy logo had similarities to the Nazi swastika when it first gear came out, heavily associating it with the brand of Nazi programs. When the British took over, the car logo was unplowed along with the name, despite it being a Nazi relic as any form of car was not presented to the people underthe Nazi rule and no other company wanted to take over the company, given the ugly design of the renamed Volkswagen beetle. Since then, the Volkswagen brand has become the third largest railway car firm in the world. When people see the Volkswagen logo, they think of the superiority of the car made affordable to the people rather than its Nazi past.The Impact of VolkswagenThrough clever marketing and a strong ethos, the Volkswagen philosophy managed to sell well to the people. Yet, there is an underlying political core to be derived from the sale of Volkswagen cars, the standard Peoples Car. Having a Volkswagen on the street would represent the truthfulness of the common man achieving his trances of fin all(prenominal)y owning one. This would represent a political message on two different grounds the governmental and the individual. One of the definitions of the lavish was to own a car. The car would represent the luxury of being confluent the comfort, the convenience and the social status. The masses could but look on with e nvy as they proceeded on with their daily lives looking at the rich in shiny transportation while the rich looked down on them from full(prenominal) carriages. This impression struck a chord in the common mans mind while he raged a revolution in different places turning monarchies into anything but it. As such, governments would like to ensure that the cosmos would not throw a revolution the symbol of a Volkswagen would picture a perfect crowd pleaser to the population then.For the government these days, the appeal of Volkswagen nonoperational exists the existence of a Volkswagen in many countries still provides the same raise on the people its their car. As long as the Volkswagen is on the street, the government has through their supposed job to provide cheap transportation to the people. To the people, beyond the dreams of owning a car, the Volkswagen represents a capitalist dream. The Hitler years notwithstanding, the modern Volkswagen represents a new class of citizens, who will be rewarded with what they have earned thus far. From the above visuals, the brand Volkswagen brings about a new breed of ideal citizens the ones that capitalism will reward. The individual is now laden with a hope of owning a car and that to own the Peoples Car, one will have to abide by the laws of capitalism to achieve the dream. Working hard to earn the income to pay for the price for the car, it has brought about the capitalist dream to the people in the subtlest of ways.Economical Impact of CarsThe impact of choke industry has affected the entire world whether its through the cipheries that the car firms set up in America, Germany, Japan or Thailand or through the different industries spawned or assisted by the automobile industry. The significance of the economical impact of cars cannot be discounted. With reference to Volkswagen, the understanding of economical impact of cars visually will be split amongst two different groups the government and the different c omplementing industries. From the point of view of the government, the car industry presents itself as a extensive economy boost. The once-thriving Detroit, the car town of America, was a major industry with huge employment rates, arrestn by the huge American consumer market, where over three quarters of the 200 million automobiles are cars.The view of fully alter car parks waiting for the export ships to port was a stack to behold it represented a view of the bustling economy. For Volkswagen, an entire urban center was constructed for the birth of Volkswagen. Wolfsburg, once a countryside village, was transformed into the headquarters for Volkswagen. Workers came from all over and settled into Wolfsburg to work for Volkswagen, and before long, it was the heart of Volkswagen operations. To build a urban center from scratch needs planning and labor this provides employment and opportunity for a lot of people. Thus the sight of a Volkswagen brand has generated economy for the government in a political way, it has ensured one of the main employment sectors and economic boost.For the other industries, the car industry has provided a suitable complement to their business. The more obvious examples are the petrol industries, where the cars are dependent on them for ability sources. The less obvious examples the music industry (where radios in the cars are needful these days), the drive-through industry and the entertainment industry (to launch their new cars) are all part of the economic industry that depends on the car industry for some form of economic dependence. As such, the visual of cars on the streets give the economy a boost, especially with the other industries.Environmental Impact of CarsCars have a disastrous impact on the environment being largely answerable for smog and toxic air pollutants, not to mention the worlds increasing dependence on foreign oil makes it one of the go across pollutants around the world at present. The sight of car s emitting harmful smoke has led to the oral political opposition in governments worldwide. Despite the best efforts of the car industry, there is no suitable preference energy fuel to compensate the genuine form of fuel consumption diesel and petrol. However, this has created an impetus to search for cheaper and more valuable engines, which will provide better miles-per-gallon formula. For Volkswagen, this has resulted in the TDI engineering, where the fuel is consumed when needed.The TDI applied science has won accolades for saving fuel the most efficient cars on the road run on diesel are by Volkswagen TDI Diesel Engine. Volkswagen went one step further they implemented Volkswagen Think Blue, a drive to find the cleanest alternative energy consumption that would be sustainable for its engines. force the limit for the fuel consumption while searching for the next alternative fuel for the car, they managed to achieve an understanding of sustainability and progress in enviro nmental terms. This underlines Volkswagens environmental considerations while providing progress to the people. The Peoples Car is seen under different light it is environmentally informal while pushing for progress. And while it may offend the petrol heads, the Volkswagen is trying to be an environmentally friendly car, which puts it in line with the mental pictures of the Democrats.Das Auto Respecting the law.The Volkswagen hang was made to travel the Autobahn, the fastest highway on the planet without any speed limit. Hitlers vision of allowing cheap fast transport for the masses was to be complete with the Volkswagen and the Autobahn. Unfortunately, the rest of the world did not have such laws in place and to regulate the traffic, they installed rules and laws. The first of all traffic laws was the limitation of speed this was to baffle unnecessary casualty.The introduction of non-horse carriages came to light the first of all vehicles was a powered carriage the need fo r safety of those not driving was present. As such, over the years, the governments sought to reduce speed in all manners on the highways, on the roads and on the dashboard. As promising as the technology from the car industry, there would be a speed limit for all vehicles. This was to prevent the race for speed and allow the progress of the automobile done safely. Other policies include the limitations of vehicles in densely populated place the use of ERP and COE in Singapore and the taxes levied on vehicles. These were to prevent the rampant sale of vehicles while keeping the country free from the overcrowding.The Automobile Icon Volkswagen BeetleThe best is kept for last the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, which has been the longest production vehicle (from 1938 2003 on one design) with sales of more than 21 million. This recognizable car has its own movie and spawned movements, along with generations to embrace the Volkswagen Beetle as part of their lives. In this section, the Volk swagen Beetle will be examined politically as a heathenish icon with its impact on the political arena. The Volkswagen Beetle ugly design one that was unconventional different and from the pre-WWII days was a signature icon that lasted through the decades. Volkswagens refusal to change the design of the Beetle led to many modifications from the owners. As seen below, the popular culture took over with the designs in the 60s.The customizable trace of the Beetle allowed the freedom of expression, in which the Hippie culture of the 60s took full advantage of. The freedom of expression has always been a part of the American Constitution and it took a liberal turn with the Hippie Culture. merely the sex, drugs of that period, the Hippie Culture was a liberalizing process for the population to air their views. These views were of a peace-making, pacifist nature and they were in support of non-violence, civil rights and anti-nuclear armament movements. The Volkswagen Beetles with thei r change colors were a symbol of that political statement. A television series, Herbie, featuring the Volkswagen Beetle as a racing car with human emotions, popularized the car. Although this was not the only car that was featured in films, the very nature of the Beetle shown to have human feelings was a personification of the car.From the television and film series, the character of Volkswagen Beetle was further defined determined with a colorful personality. This created an impression on the younger generation then that the car was a cool factor it made them want a car in their lives. The implications were that these children grew up needing cars and created a population who rather give up their voting rights than driving license. The specifications of the Volkswagen Beetle also came into focus. The numerous races and rallies that it went for and achieved results became a cult in its own right. prone that the Beetle was never made for racing, this has led to many thinking that the Beetle is multi-functional despite the ugly nature.The engine, simple yet effective, is also adjustable to modifications. This feature of the car has created a Volkswagen Beetle sub-culture, one where even as the old Volkswagen model is no longer in production, the owners of Volkswagen regularly meet up to showcase their re-tuned and refined Volkswagen Beetles. Translate this into an understanding of visual politics the cult of Volkswagen Beetle is an example of a loyal following of unwavering belief and given in the previous paragraphs we have deduced that the followers are liberal in principle, the conclusion is that the Volkswagen Beetle is a symbol of liberal views. cultivationHaving seen the impact of Volkswagen around the world, one would really wonder if Major Ivan Hirst were not to revive the company and let it pass, would the world be the same today? Throughout the years of Volkswagen existence, there have been many movements, many political undertones derived from the sheer existence of Volkswagen on the street. The Hippie Culture, the racing mentality, the liberal ideals and the capitalist principles all of which points to a subliminal messaging by the presence of a Volkswagen on the street.No other car has invoked so many different views in the world today. There are other aspects of Volkswagen not affected in this paper especially the impact of Volkswagen in the prospective. Given that the future of automobiles is very volatile, Volkswagen may have a different feel and visual understanding in the future. As of now, the brand of Volkswagen is still the Peoples Car, one that all should have if they work hard enough for it. Thus, it is ingenious that the tagline of Volkswagen today is Das Auto the Car.BibliographyBooks CitedAnderson, Curtis D., and Judy Anderson. Electric and Hybrid Cars a History. Jefferson, NC McFarland, 2010. Print. Ginsburg, Douglas H., and William J. Abernathy. Government, Technology, and the future of the Automobile. bracing York McGraw-Hill, 1980. Print. Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames Foulis, 1971. Print. Keller, Maryann. Collision GM, Toyota, Volkswagen and the Race to Own the 21st Century. New York Currency Doubleday, 1993. Print. Luger, Stan. embodied Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK Cambridge UP, 2000. Print. Packer, Jeremy. Mobility without Mayhem Safety, Cars, and Citizenship. Durham Duke UP, 2008. Print. Paterson, Matthew. Automobile Politics Ecology and Cultural Political Economy. Cambridge Cambridge UP, 2007. Print. Redshaw, Sarah. In the Company of Cars control as a Social and Cultural Practice. Aldershot Ashgate, 2008. Print. Pictures Used abundant VW Ads, cogitate those massive Volkswagen ads?, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from WebsitesUS division of Energy, 2011 Best and Worst MPG Cars, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from V olkswagen, TDI Academy Tackling TDI technology, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from 1 . Incidentally, he was the man behind another smashing car company, Porsche, with a similar rear-engine car model. 2 . Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames Foulis, 1971, pp 62 67 3 . Ibid, pp 96 97 4 . Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from 5 . Volks World (29th January 2009) Adolf Hitler Rare Photos, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from 6 . Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames Foulis, 1971, pp 142 152 7 . Ibid, pp 98. 8 . Great VW Ads, Remember those great Volkswagen ads?, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from 9 . Great VW Ads, Remember those great Volkswagen ads?, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from 10 . Hippie Culture 11 . http//www.neatorama.com/2008/02/18/evolution-of-car-logos/ 12 . Case in point the countries in Central and South America. 13 . Great VW Ads, Remember those great Volkswagen ads?, Ret rieved 15th October 2011, from 14 . Luger, Stan. Corporate Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK Cambridge UP, 2000, pp 9 15 . Hopfinger, K. B. The Volkswagen Story. Henley on Thames Foulis, 1971, pp 106 112 16 . The higher the encourage for mpg the better the fuel consumption of the vehicle. 17 . Volkswagen, TDI Academy Tackling TDI technology, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from 18 . US Department of Energy, 2011 Best and Worst MPG Cars, Retrieved 31st October 2011, from 19 . Luger, Stan. Corporate Power, American Democracy, and the Automobile Industry. Cambridge, UK Cambridge UP, 2000, pp 12 20 . Great VW Ads, Remember those great Volkswagen ads?, Retrieved 15th October 2011, from