Volkswagen
Volkswagens were first exhibited and sold in the United States in 1949, but sold only two units in America that first year. On entry to the U.S. market, the VW was briefly sold as a "Victory Wagon". Volkswagen of America was formed in April 1955 to standardise sales and service in the United States. Production of the Type 1 Volkswagen Beetle increased dramatically over the years, the total reaching one million in 1955.
Carl Hahn
In 1973, Hahn left VW and returned to Hannover, Germany to lead the German tire company Continental AG.
In 1982, he returned to become chairman of Volkswagenwerk AG. Under his leadership, Volkswagen entered a cooperation agreement with the Spanish car brand SEAT in 1982, bought a majority interest in 1986, and by 1990 owned the entire company. 
In 1985, Hahn was able to push VW's earnings up 140 percent to $225 million based on sales of more than $21 billion, and he was credited for pushing VW beyond the one-car strategy left over from the era of air-cooled Beetles and the early success of the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 in the 1970s. 
The second-generation edition, introduced in Europe in 1983 and in North America in 1984, was one of the bestselling cars of the 1980s worldwide.