1974: from Beetle to Golf/Rabbit Volkswagen was in serious trouble by 1973.[8] The Type 3 and Type 4 models had sold in much smaller numbers than the

1974: from Beetle to Golf/Rabbit

Volkswagen was in serious trouble by 1973.[8] The Type 3 and Type 4 models had sold in much smaller numbers than the Beetle and the NSU-based K70 also failed to woo buyers. Beetle sales had started to decline rapidly in European and North American markets. The company knew that Beetle production had to end one day, but the conundrum of replacing it had been a never-ending nightmare. VW's ownership of Audi / Auto Union proved to be the key to the problem - with its expertise in front-wheel drive, and water-cooled engines which Volkswagen so desperately needed to produce a credible Beetle successor. Audi influences paved the way for this new generation of Volkswagens, known as the Polo, Golf and Passat.

The Volkswagen Polo was in fact simply a re-badging of the short-lived Audi 50, which had been hastily developed from a sedan design, the Audi 60. However, VW produced it shortly after the introduction of the Polo as the Volkswagen Derby. In the rear of the car can plainly be seen that panels are added to the Polo structure to make a "three-box" design of saloon (sedan), or saloon with a boot or trunk.

The Volkswagen Passat (Dasher in the U.S.), introduced in 1973, was again simply a fastback (available as either a hatchback or with separate boot) version of the Audi 80, using identical body and mechanical parts, and the Audi 80 was later produced on the same line in Wolfsburg as the Passat. Estate/wagon versions were offered for overseas markets, however, for two years, if British and South African customers wanted an estate/wagon version, they had to go considerably upmarket and buy the Audi 80 GL estate.

However, the pivotal model which would turn Volkswagen's fortunes emerged as the Volkswagen Golf in 1974, marketed in the United States and Canada as the Rabbit for the 1st generation (1975-1985) and 5th generation (2006-2009). This was a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways, both mechanically as well as visually (its angular styling was designed by the Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro). Its design followed trends for small family cars set by the 1959 Mini — the Golf had a transversely mounted, water-cooled engine in the front, driving the front wheels, and had a hatchback, a format that has dominated the market segment ever since. Beetle production at Wolfsburg ended upon the Golf's introduction, but continued in smaller numbers at other German factories (Hanover and Emden) until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico.