HN 2: The British and their Works

Under the pressure of the material crisis, in early August 1947
Ivan Hirst instructed the factory management to produce 30
second-hand vehicles for the suppliers that month, "as fast as
possible and by any means". 89 Although new parts also had to be
used for this, he handled the order generously. At the same time,
the British had decided to provide the suppliers and the mining
industry with 25 vehicles each. Once again, however, the distribution
system created complications. Major Hirst made it
clear that the quota allocation would be controlled centrally by
the Highway and Highways Transport Branch in future and
processed by the State Economic Office. The previous direct
allocation of the quotas via the mining industry had "not gone
to plan", especially since these quotas had been set aside for
another purpose. The vehicles intended for the mining industry
now had to be allocated via the German Central Administration
for Roads and Transportation in accordance with the regulations.
This led to further delays. 90
This tug-of-war was gradually exhausting the patience of the
supply headquarters of the German mining industry. At the end
of September 1947 general manager Münch paid them a visit in
order to prevent the threatened transfer of the orders from the
Volkswagenwerk to Opel. It was after all an important sales sector
for the future. In order to meet the obligations to the mining
industry, he instructed the production manager Wilhelm
Steinmeier to exceed the mandatory production, if possible in
October 1947. But Münch had clearly "misread the situation",
and Major Hirst made it clear to him that all backlogs of the
commanded programme must first be cleared before anybody
else got a single car. Furthermore he criticised the unauthorised
undertakings made to the mining industry, and put the factory
management in its place. He pointed out that the Volkswagenwerk’s
vehicle output was distributed by the Allied authorities,
and the board of management was not authorised to enter into
negotiations with other institutions. 91 Despite these complaints,
the major fleet purchasers – the mining industry, the post office
and the railways – remained customers of the Volkswagenwerk,
for the likely reason that there were no real alternatives.
With the production slumps in August, October and November
1947, the Volkswagenwerk now had the worst of the battle
behind it. The materials situation eased up. And in December,
with the vigorous support of the workforce and the works
council, production was increased to 1,020 vehicles. Ultimately,
1948 had brought with it the upswing that everybody had been
waiting for.
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