In January, 1949, two Volkswagen Type 1 Beetles arrived in New York City. Six years later, Volkswagen of America was founded. The original Beetle was cute in an ugly sort of way. It was under-powered and its heater was anemic, but it was cheap and that was enough for many Americans. In fact, Volkswagen made a number of self-deprecating commercials that celebrated its low price and its foibles. Here is one called “Keeping Up With The Kremplers.”

Eventually, the allure of an inexpensive car that traced its heritage to the 1930s began to fade. The company reluctantly made the transition to a new car called the Rabbit in the US. In 1978, Volkswagen took over a former Chrysler factory in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where it made more than one million cars over the next ten years. At the time, it was the first foreign owned automobile factory in the US since the Rolls Royce factory in Springfield, Massachusetts closed in 1931.

For a while, Volkswagen attracted customers by positioning itself as a builder of performance cars. The Rabbit GTI was very popular. It was followed by the Sirocco and Corrado, which were less so. Soon, Japanese manufacturers built their own US factories in the US and began offering modern cars customers actually wanted.

In response, Volkswagen shifted its focus to diesel powered cars,. That worked for a while, until the Dieselgate fiasco. 2 percent — well behind both Nissan and Subaru.

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