Editing Volkswagen (section)

===1945–1948: British military intervention===
[[File:VW Wolfsburg.JPG|thumb|Volkswagen industrial plant in Wolfsburg, pictured in 2006]]
In April 1945, KdF-Stadt and its heavily bombed factory were captured by the [[United States Armed Forces|United States armed forces]] and subsequently handed over to the British, within whose [[British Occupation zone in Germany|occupation zone]] the town and factory fell. The factory was placed under the control of [[British Army]] officer Major [[Ivan Hirst]], [[Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers|REME]], a civilian Military Governor with the occupying forces. At first, one plan was to use it for [[List of military vehicles|military vehicle]] maintenance, and possibly dismantle and ship it to Britain. Since it had been used for military production, (though not of KdF-Wagens) and had been in Hirst's words, a "political animal" rather than a commercial enterprise—technically making it liable for destruction under the terms of the [[Potsdam Agreement]]—the equipment could have been salvaged as [[war reparations]]. Allied dismantling policy changed in late 1946 to mid-1947, though heavy industry continued to be dismantled until 1951.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

One of the factory's wartime 'KdF-Wagen' cars had been taken to the factory for repairs and abandoned there. Hirst had it repainted green and demonstrated it to British Army headquarters. Short of light transport, in September 1945 the British Army was persuaded to place a vital order for 20,000 cars. However, production facilities had been massively disrupted, there was a refugee crisis at and around the factory, and some parts (such as [[carburetor|carburettors]]) were unavailable. Hirst and his German assistant [[Heinrich Nordhoff]] (who went on to run the Wolfsburg facility after the military government ended in 1949) helped to stabilise the acute social situation while simultaneously re-establishing production. Hirst, for example, used his engineering experience to arrange the manufacture of carburettors, the original producers being effectively 'lost' in the [[East Germany|Soviet zone]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Lindsay|title=Mr|journal=Thoroughbred & Classic Cars|date=October 1986}}</ref> The first few hundred cars went to personnel from the occupying forces, and to the [[Deutsche Bundespost|postal service]]. Some British service personnel were allowed to take their [[Volkswagen Beetle|Beetles]] back to the United Kingdom when they were [[Demobilization|demobilised]].<ref name=uk-import-first>{{cite web |url=http://www.hillsideimports.com/vw-history/the-first-demonstrator-of-the-volkswagen-beetle |title=Volkswagen Model 11 Beetle |website=hillsideimports.com |date=20 February 2014 |access-date=4 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404000212/http://www.hillsideimports.com/vw-history/the-first-demonstrator-of-the-volkswagen-beetle |archive-date=4 April 2015 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=July 2017}}

The post-war [[industrial plans for Germany]] set out rules that governed which industries Germany was allowed to retain. These rules set German car production at a maximum of 10% of 1936 car production.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=10&documentid=22&documentdate=1947-03-24&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK |title=Harry S. Truman – Library & Museum&nbsp;– Draft, The President's Economic Mission to Germany and Austria, Report 3, March, 1947; OF 950B: Economic Mission as to Food...; Truman Papers |publisher=Trumanlibrary.org |access-date=27 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211032355/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/marshall/large/documents/index.php?pagenumber=10&documentid=22&documentdate=1947-03-24&studycollectionid=mp&nav=OK |archive-date=11 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> By 1946, the factory produced 1,000 cars a month even though it was still in disrepair. Owing to roof and window damage, production had to stop when it rained, and the company had to barter new vehicles for steel for production.<ref>{{Cite web|title=70 years since the return of the Volkswagen plant|url=https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2019/10/volkswagen-and-its-british-roots.html|access-date=10 August 2020|website=www.volkswagenag.com|archive-date=8 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808143621/https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2019/10/volkswagen-and-its-british-roots.html}}</ref>

The car and its town changed their Second World War-era names to "Volkswagen" and "[[Wolfsburg]]" respectively, and production increased. It was still unclear what was to become of the factory. It was offered to representatives from the American, Australian, British, and French motor industries who all rejected it. After an inspection of the plant, [[William Edward Rootes, 1st Baron Rootes|Sir William Rootes]], head of the British [[Rootes Group]], told Hirst the project would fail within two years, and that the car "...is quite unattractive to the average motorcar buyer, is too ugly and too noisy. If you think you're going to build cars in this place, you're a bloody fool, young man."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Patton |first1=Phil |title=Ivan Hirst, British Officer Who Revived VW, Is Dead at 84 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/22/business/ivan-hirst-british-officer-who-revived-vw-is-dead-at-84.html |access-date=21 July 2022 |work=The New York Times|date=22 March 2000 }}</ref> The official report said: "To build the car commercially would be a completely uneconomic enterprise."<ref>{{cite news |last=Clausager |first=Anders Ditlev |title=Obituaries – Ivan Hirst |date=18 March 2000 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/mar/18/guardianobituaries |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204072755/http://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/mar/18/guardianobituaries |archive-date=4 December 2013}}</ref>
[[File:Nibbler-volkswagenwerkwolfsburg.jpg|thumb|Volkswagen [[cogeneration]] plant]]
Ford representatives were equally critical. In March 1948, the British offered the Volkswagen company to Ford, free of charge. [[Henry Ford II]], the son of [[Edsel Ford]], travelled to [[West Germany]] for discussions. Heinz Nordhoff was also present, as well as Ernest Breech, chairman of the board for Ford. Henry Ford II looked to Breech for his opinion, and Breech said, "Mr. Ford, I don't think what we're being offered here is worth a damn!"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nelson |first1=Walter Henry |title=Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen |date=1970 |publisher=Little, Brown |page=18 |access-date=10 November 2020|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XrMeAQAAMAAJ&q=%22worth+a+damn%22}}</ref> Ford passed on the offer, leaving Volkswagen to rebuild itself under Nordhoff's leadership.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ford Could Have Paid Nothing To Own VW After World War II|url=https://www.motor1.com/features/272618/ford-volkswagen-merger-history/|access-date=10 March 2023|website=www.motor1.com}}</ref>