Carl H. Hahn might not have been a household name for many of us, but for the past 65 years he has influenced each of our lives directly or indirectly. German-born Carl was the industrial and marketing wiZard behind Volkswagen's meteoric rise to world-wide fame and fortune from the 1950s onward.

Born into the automotive industrial family which made DKW motorcycles and light trucks famous, Carl had a passion and a personal genius for automotive development and marketing. Graduating at the top of his classes in business, economics, art, and politics from several European universities, Carl took a job with the lowly VolksWagen company in 1955. There he picked up the Post-War ball from Ferdinand and Ferry Porsche and helped develop the simple "Peoples' Car"; (he was responsible for adding the first fuel gauge to his first model) and began marketing it in several countries.

Placed in charge of the U.S. market thru the 1960s, '70s and '80s, Carl used clever methods to bring the new VW into the heart of Americans; basically he made fun of how different and unique his own product was, and it worked. Every cute and funny VW commercial you have seen, from the Beetle up thru Fahrvergnügen (Funkengrüven) and his transporter (the MicroBus), came over Carl's desk.

Over the years his responsibilities grew to the development of all models of Auto Union, Audi, and VW, in many countries. His efforts generated millions and millions of car sales around the world, and added billions of dollars to VW corporate funds. Like our own "Mister K" in Datsun circles, Carl Hahn became an industrial giant and an icon in his own time. He was reverently referred to as "C.H.H." and "Mister VolksWagen" in automotive circles. I suspect there is evidence that VW has sold more individual units than any other car company in history, and they can thank CHH for that.

Carl Hahn died 14Jan'23 in Germany at age 96.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hahn


Auf Weidersehen, Herr Hahn.
Danke Schöen

Frank T

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1970 240Z

Great article, thanks for sharing!

Juan

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Juan Marcos - 2023 CTZCC President
Gold 75 280Z
White 72 240Z
Blue 78 280Z
TBD 73 240Z
Red 83 280ZX

I had the great honor and pleasure of meeting Professor Hahn several times and had extensive discussions with him as a television journalist. These conversations were used in three documentaries about the VW Bus/Transporter, the VW Beetle and the VW Golf. Hahn still had an office in Wolfsburg with employees even at an advanced age of over 90. He showed me several items from his collection at the time, including Giugiaro's original design drawing for the VW Golf, an exhibit that meant a lot to him. The Golf, as few people know, was Volkswagen's first in-house development, and Hahn was largely responsible. Hahn was an outstanding personality with impressive expertise and outstanding clarity; in 30 years of journalism I have never met anyone comparable.

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T. Link
Germany
1971 240z (HLS30-16506)

Hi Thor! Is there ANYONE you haven't met?! You must have the most-interesting job in the world.

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1970 240Z