HN 2: The British and their Works

fident, since "nowadays when people talk about cars in
Germany, they mean the Volkswagen". 229 And on account of its
role as currency earner for the British Treasury, Volkswagen also
called the tune in the export business. In 1950, from the previous
year’s figure of 7,000, the number of exported vehicles leapt to
30,000. Its status as a British publicly operated undertaking
catapulted the Volkswagenwerk into pole position, from which
it roared away into the emerging automotive society of the
1950s, scoring national and international triumphs on the way.
The Wolfsburg company became the symbol of the West
German economic miracle, the Beetle the icon of an era. Perhaps
Volkswagen really is, as a later Chairman put it most aptly and
with an ironic twinkle in his eye, "the most successful car
company ever set up by the British". 230 ■
92 93
THE TRANSFER TO GERMAN OWNERSHIP