From Business History: De-Nazifying the Love Bug: The VW Beetle Story Part II
About this episode
We're sharing an episode from another Pushkin podcast, Business History. Hosts Jacob Goldstein and Robert Smith examine the surprising stories of businesses big and small, bringing to life the greatest innovations, the boldest entrepreneurs and the craziest mavericks in the archives of commerce and finance.
It's 1945. The Volkswagen factory has been bombed and members of the staff have been arrested as war criminals. So how did the company turn around in just a few years and begin making Beetle cars that became a global sensation? Big political and economic moves helped - but a British Army officer, Walt Disney and a New York ad agency also played pivotal roles in turning a car that Hitler had championed into the favourite ride of surfers, school teachers and hippies.
This is part 2 of a two-part series. Check out part 1 from last week.
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Volkswagen Beetle
"...o build the militarized version of the Volkswagen Beetle. And then in the spring of nineteen forty five, t..."
Dodge Spirit
"...reparations for the war? Right, this is still the spirit of the count to something. Sit You could have a B..."
Ford Model T
"...he production line. Beating the record set by the model t Ford for the best selling car of all time. And I ..."
Toyota Corolla
".... And I will note sometimes people say the Toyota Corolla is the best selling car of all time, But the tric..."
Toyota Car Toyota
"set by the model t Ford for the best selling car of all time. And I will note sometimes people say the Toyota Corolla is the best selling car of all time, But the trick is it's not the same car. Toyota has been making a car called the Corolla for decades. But if"
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