VW celebrates its 150 millionth vehicle, a Golf GTE

This week, Volkswagen announced that it had built its 150 millionth vehicle. The company was founded just over 80 years ago, starting with the original Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle. While it may have been nice to bookend that car with a new Beetle, Volkswagen decided to focus on the future with a Golf GTE, the performance hybrid version of the automaker’s best selling vehicle. More than 34 million Golfs have been produced, far surpassing the 21.5 million Beetles on the road, though the latter only received minor changes through its 65-year run.

Over its history, Volkswagen has built cars in more than 50 facilities in 14 countries, including Germany, the U.S., Brazil and Mexico. The plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, has produced more than 44 million vehicles since it started production 72 years ago. The Volkswagen Group includes automakers like Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini. Total sales make it the second largest automaker in the world, regularly trading the top spot with Toyota.

While the Golf and Beetle may be the most obvious record setters, the Passat is catching up with 20 million units. That’s followed by 19.5 million Jettas and nearly 17 million Polo hatchbacks. Volkswagen itself sells more than 60 models worldwide, though only a few of those are sold here in the U.S. This year alone, Volkswagen plans to introduce 10 new models worldwide, with more on the way in the next few.

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