12 Best Volkswagen Business Strategies to Learn From

After WWII, Volkswagen’s factory in Wolfsburg, Germany was severely damaged.

However, under the leadership of British Army officer Ivan Hirst, Volkswagen was rebuilt and began mass production of the Beetle in 1945 (source).

In 1965, Volkswagen’s market share in Germany was around 40%. By the 1970s, Volkswagen was producing luxury vehicles like the Volkswagen K70.

In 2022, the global automotive market share of Volkswagen was between 6.7% — 10.3%, making it the 2nd largest car company after Toyota.

This article analyzes the business, branding, and marketing strategies that fueled the remarkable turnaround—transforming Volkswagen from a struggling niche player to an icon worldwide.

For auto industry players aiming for high growth today, there are valuable lessons to learn from Volkswagen’s playbook, spanning:

• Branding magic
• Manufacturing Excellence
• Dealer network strategies
• And clever advertising.

So how exactly did this European upstart establish dominance worldwide?

Let’s uncover their blueprint!

1. Laser Focus on Quality and Affordability

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In the post-World War 2 years, as people worked to rebuild lives amidst economic hardship, Volkswagen’s efficiency claims and value proposition strongly resonated.

CONTEXT: After WWII, Volkswagen marketed the Beetle as an affordable and efficient “people’s car” that resonated with consumers rebuilding their lives.

This early positioning fueled widespread adoption that supported gaining a dominant market share.

Volkswagen also maintains decent quality initiatives. Their internal metrics target top-quartile performance among volume brands for vehicle defects.

Furthermore, affordability and overall value remain core Volkswagen strengths.

For example, the vintage Beetle upheld strong value retention (66.7% after 5 years) for decades. It is renowned for maintaining exceptional resale value over decades.

Today, modern crossovers like the Tiguan and Atlas (with Atlas being in the top 3 among midsize SUVs) provide “excellent value,” with lower than average ownership costs industry-wide.

2. Democratization of Automotive Luxury

A pivotal component of Volkswagen’s success has been making high-end, luxury features accessible to mainstream buyers.

Specifically, Volkswagen incorporated premium elements like leather seating, responsive engines, and driver assistance technologies into budget-friendly vehicles.

For example, across its 2016 lineup, Volkswagen introduced advanced features including lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and more.

In fact, the classic Volkswagen Beetle, which married a luxury-inspired design with affordability, contributed greatly to building the brand.

Over 21 million original Beetles sold globally, tapping into strong lifestyle appeal (source).

Today, Volkswagen continues this legacy by aiming to democratize emerging, high-tech features.

They plan to manufacture 80 distinct, affordable EV models by 2030 as part of its electric mobility offensive.

3. Emotional Brand Connection

It’s rare for any brand to establish multi-generational loyalty as consistently as Volkswagen did with iconic models.

The Beetle’s unique design and customizable style have fostered a “tribal following” with 66% value retention over 5 years.

The Golf, the best-selling Volkswagen model ever at over 35 million sold, continues winning awards decades later (source).

How exactly did Volkswagen build such lasting emotional equity and connection to foster loyalty across generations?

Volkswagen fostered close emotional ties with car owners via customer experience strategies spanning trade-ins, maintenance, purchase interest generation, and more.

Emotional branding and storytelling in advertisements have also strengthened trust in Volkswagen’s durability and reliability claims over decades.

The famous “Think Small” campaign in the 1960s used humor and reverse psychology to position the Beetle as an affordable, durable car, contributing to its widespread adoption.

4. Dealer Network Expansion

Volkswagen now partners with over 10,000 dealer locations across critical automotive industry markets like China, India, North America, and Western Europe.

This extensive dealer network provides Volkswagen with multiple go-to-market advantages:

• Increased brand visibility and physical access to customers across diverse regions.
• The ability to cater to localized consumer preferences by stocking a wider range of models.
• After-sales service and support capabilities are closer to customers, which is crucial for satisfaction and repurchases.

Volkswagen strategically tailors its distribution models based on individual market maturity and customer expectations.

For example:

• In China, Volkswagen operates via joint ventures with First Automotive Works Corporation (FAW) and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) to optimize market knowledge and manufacturing capabilities (source).
• In India, Volkswagen partners with Skoda to enhance distribution network reach while optimizing combined investments in a high-growth market (source).
• In North America, Volkswagen set up its own dedicated manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee to exert higher control over US market operations including dealer partnerships (source).

This customized expansion approach has been invaluable for Volkswagen to gain significant market share across key global regions.

5. Marketing Innovation Prowess

Volkswagen built an iconic brand image globally through witty, emotional ad campaigns across print, TV, radio, and experiential channels.

The “Think Small” print ads used humor and self-deprecation in the 1960s to embrace the Beetle’s size and fuel adoption.

Similarly, the “Lemon” campaign wittingly portrayed high-reliability standards by calling out a minor defect. And the musical “Drivers Wanted” TV ads of the 1990s emotionally engaged buyers.

These innovative campaigns tapped into cultural trends and consumer emotions rather than direct product specs.

Such memorable ads built strong global brand awareness for Volkswagen.

6. Niche Market Diversification

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Volkswagen entered niche markets early on by launching Audi in the 1960s to target the premium segment.

Later, it acquired other luxury brands like Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, and Porsche to further diversify and cater to specific high-end customer segments.

This multi-brand strategy allowed Volkswagen to:

• Target a wider range of customer segments across the economy, premium, and luxury categories.
• Mitigate risks as the brands were relatively independent and recession-proof.
• Gain technological expertise from these niche acquisitions to transfer across brands.
• Improve the perception of the Volkswagen brand by association with these premium cars.

The niche brands gave Volkswagen access to markets and segments where the economy Volkswagen brand was not as strong.

For instance, Audi and Porsche have a strong presence in the US and Chinese luxury markets.

This allowed Volkswagen Group to reduce dependence on Europe, which accounts for less than half its vehicle sales today, compared to over 70% in the 1990s (source).

7. Manufacturing Optimization

Volkswagen has optimized manufacturing to achieve both low costs and German engineering precision. This combination attracts buyers worldwide.

Volkswagen controls over 75% of component production internally.

By directly managing critical parts like batteries, they exert quality oversight while stabilizing supply chains. This vertical integration improves efficiency and reliability.

Furthermore, Volkswagen developed advanced analytics models to systematically eliminate defects (source).

Result?

Volkswagen sustains top-quartile defect performance compared to volume brands while keeping costs low.

8. Technology Innovation Pioneer

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As early as the 1960s, Volkswagen introduced niche innovations like fuel injection into mainstream vehicles years before competitors.

Some landmark innovations Volkswagen brought into mass-market automobiles first include:

• Fuel Injection – One of the first automakers to offer electronic fuel injection technology for improved performance and efficiency in 1967.
• Turbodiesels – Made diesel engines popular for passenger cars starting in 1976. Combining turbocharging and direct injection gave strong torque and MPG.
• DSG Transmission – The first high-volume production dual-clutch transmission in 2003 for faster, smoother gear changes.
• Electric Vehicles – Now positions itself at the forefront of the EV revolution with major investments like the ID model range (source).

In multiple cases, Volkswagen took niche technologies barely used in cars and figured out how to manufacture them affordably at scale across vehicle lines.

9. Brand Architecture Strategizing

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Volkswagen utilizes a powerful three-tiered “house of brands” architecture strategy across its portfolio.

This means having distinct brand groups targeting specific vehicle segments:

1. Volume brands like Volkswagen and Skoda
2. Premium names such as Audi and Porsche
3. Along with exclusive ultra-luxury offerings covering Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini.

The tailored brand identities allow Volkswagen to craft messages and experiences that deeply resonate.

The portfolio also provides a balanced revenue mix and insulates Volkswagen from issues with any singular brand.

For instance, even as Volkswagen sales declined recently over regulatory troubles, strong Audi and Porsche momentum drove record group profits (source).

Despite sharing technology, research, and platforms, the brands retain distinct identities and flexibility in serving their specific target groups.

The clearly defined brand positioning minimizes overlap while clarifying what each nameplate offers.

10. Crisis Response Agility

In 2015, Volkswagen faced a massive crisis when it was discovered that diesel vehicles included “defeat devices” to cheat on emissions tests.

This shocking revelation completely shattered public trust.

Initially, Volkswagen’s crisis response received widespread criticism for being too slow and lacking transparency.

Specifically:

• Volkswagen took far too long to fully admit wrongdoing and reveal cheating was more widespread than first claimed. This delay eroded credibility.
• There was a distinct lack of transparency around how the defeat devices actually worked to alter emissions levels during testing. Only vague data was provided.

However, after significant public backlash, Volkswagen ultimately demonstrated accountability by taking corrective actions:

• They replaced multiple executive leaders who oversaw policies enabling the scandal, showing commitment to reform.
• The new leadership focused intently on transparency, holding public Q&As, and simplifying processes to surface issues faster.
• Volkswagen agreed to settlement fines and costs exceeding $30 billion globally, accepting responsibility on a massive scale.

While Volkswagen’s initial emission scandal response was slow and lacked transparency resulting in severe reputation damage, their eventual decisive actions showed accountability, agility, and forward focus.

11. Focus on Sustainability

Volkswagen aims for 50-70% of sales to be electric vehicles by 2030.

This aligns with their broader goal to sell 26 million electric models across brands by 2029.

To enable this EV push, Volkswagen is investing €52 billion in electric mobility R&D over 5-10 years and across around 50 planned models.

Volkswagen also aims for carbon-neutral operations by 2050 across its full life cycle footprint.

In the near term, Volkswagen targets a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions per vehicle by 2030.

To hit these goals, Volkswagen focuses on:

• Production process efficiencies.
• Expanding renewable energy.
• Comprehensive offsetting programs.

These concrete sustainability targets prove Volkswagen is committed to tangibly reducing environmental impact at scale.

12. Customer Co-Creation

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Volkswagen utilizes co-creation strategies like concept cars and online communities to get customer feedback on designs and features.

Volkswagen brings customers in early when designing new vehicles to better understand the capabilities and features they value most.

They frequently unveil innovative concept cars at major industry shows and events to gauge buyer reactions in areas like design styling, technology features, and pricing.

This real-time feedback helps Volkswagen determine positioning, and configurations and influences final production car designs to meet consumer preferences.

Volkswagen also has online communities and panels where thousands of owners worldwide provide perspectives on proposed designs, potential model names, features, marketing campaigns, and more.

Programs like Volkswagen’s Spektrum initiative also showcase co-creation by allowing buyers to personally customize paint colors and interiors for a unique look and feel.

Learning From VW’s Success

Volkswagen offers a masterclass in crafting auto dominance for the long run.

Their precise focus on quality, emotional branding, distribution reach, constant innovation, manufacturing might, and customer-centricity over decades fueled widespread loyalty across generations.

There are truly invaluable lessons business leaders aiming for transformational growth can learn from every chapter of Volkswagen’s strategic climb.

So whether you are an auto expert or simply a business leader aspiring for greatness, do explore Volkswagen’s specific tactics in detail.

Consider how targeted elements can elevate your capabilities and competitive edge for the future.

With customization and commitment, proven business strategy principles from this European juggernaut can launch any company into the top tier.