WI: Ford takes Volkswagen in 1948

kernals12

Banned
In 1948, the British occupying forces offered to give the Volkswagen company, free of charge, to Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford II was advised by Ernest Breech, Ford's board chairman, that "Mr. Ford, I don't think what we're being offered here is worth a dime!" and the deal never went through. What if Ford decides to go through with it? Would the Beetle still be the massive success as it was IOTL? Would this small car help Ford stave off the onslaught of compact Japanese imports? I imagine that Ford would've been much better off if they had been selling the Rabbit rather than the Pinto.
 
The 'People's Car' of 1948 was not the Beetle of 1960 that most people think of

Advertising would like you to think that Types 1 were hardly changed since Wolfsburg started building them, but that 1948 car had a lot more in common with the Fords of the '20s than the Beetle of 1960

25HP, 62 MPH top speed, and 39 seconds to get there from zero
noisy, both gear and engine (sound deadening insulation would be added later)
unsynchronized four-speed gear box
No gas gauge
Glovebox had no door
Cable operated Brakes
Manual operation for fan cooling setting
Semaphores, not electric turn signals
Heater that barely worked, no fan
And if the 6v electric starter would turn it over fast enough, it still had a starting crank.
And just like Henry liked, any color you wanted, as long as it was black

In 1948 Crosley and other US small car makers were having trouble selling as the Newer longer, lower and wider cars were being introduced, with V8 engines
 

kernals12

Banned
The 'People's Car' of 1948 was not the Beetle of 1960 that most people think of

Advertising would like you to think that Types 1 were hardly changed since Wolfsburg started building them, but that 1948 car had a lor more in common with the Fords of the '20s than the Beetle of 1960

25HP, 62 MPH top speed, and 39 seconds to get there from zero
noisy, both gear and engine (sound deadening insulation would be added later)
unsynchronized four-speed gear box
No gas gauge
Glovebox had no door
Cable operated Brakes
Manual operation for fan cooling setting
Semaphores, not electric turn signals
Heater that barely worked, no fan
And if the 6v electric starter would turn it over fast enough, it still had a starting crank.
And just like Henry liked, any color you wanted, as long as it was black
Cut them some slack, it was just after World War 2.
 
Cut them some slack, it was just after World War 2.

But it would be almost a decade for Nash to prove that small cars would sell in large numbers, and be profitable in the USA.

The People's Car would need a lot of upgrades, and Henry II wasn't looking for projects to fix up
 

kernals12

Banned
But it would be almost a decade for Nash to prove that small cars would sell in large numbers, and be profitable in the USA.

The People's Car would need a lot of upgrades, and Henry II wasn't looking for projects to fix up
What about the European market?
 
Ford didn’t see the virtues of the Volkswagen, and wouldn’t want to spend large amounts of money improve it (Detroit had a very different idea of how long a car should stay in production). It also still had the stigma of being Hitler’s car, which DDB was able to successfully rid it of.
 

kernals12

Banned
Ford didn’t see the virtues of the Volkswagen, and wouldn’t want to spend large amounts of money improve it (Detroit had a very different idea of how long a car should stay in production). It also still had the stigma of being Hitler’s car, which DDB was able to successfully rid it of.
Pretty ironic for the company behind the Model T.
 
But it would be almost a decade for Nash to prove that small cars would sell in large numbers, and be profitable in the USA.

The People's Car would need a lot of upgrades, and Henry II wasn't looking for projects to fix up
The Type 1 might not sell in the U.S., but it would (did) sell pretty well in Europe. Was it slow & pretty crude? Yes. Was it reliable? Yes. Was it available? In the '46-'56 (or so) period when people would buy almost anything, yes--provided Ford Europe TTL can get enough steel to build enough to meet demand.
Henry Ford almost destroyed his company in sticking with the Model T too long, and Henry II as a child remembered what happened with selling a Model that the People were not interested in buying.
Which suggests improvements to the Type 1 will be bigger & faster than OTL; might that also be impacted by Henry II recalling Edsel's preference for higher performance?

It might mean *VW's Cabrio is more common. It might even mean the Type 2, Type 3 (KG), & Type 4 (Notch) happen sooner than OTL...& maybe the Type 1 pan is retired sooner in favor of the *Golf (which probably isn't FWD).
 
The Type 1 might not sell in the U.S., but it would (did) sell pretty well in Europe. Was it slow & pretty crude? Yes. Was it reliable? Yes. Was it available? In the '46-'56 (or so) period when people would buy almost anything, yes--provided Ford Europe TTL can get enough steel to build enough to meet demand.

For US Sales, a non-starter. However, would have made sense for Ford to have added Wolfsburg to Ford of Germany.

As crude as the original Type 1 was, it was luxurious vs the 2CV, and not much more money.

Ford SAF of France had no direct competitor to that, and sales suffered, as their larger pre-war designs were hit by the engine size tax.

Henry II should have made Type 1 chassis, rail those over to Poissy and stamp a French body there, as that plant was was having issue of the War to deal with.
 
Henry II should have made Type 1 chassis, rail those over to Poissy and stamp a French body there, as that plant was was having issue of the War to deal with.
There's an idea.:cool: And you get around the German steel shortages, too. (I confess wanting to use fiberglass...but somehow, I doubt anybody at the time would consider it.;))

And just FYI: the first postwar Type 1 was 1947; by 1953, Wolfsburg had built 500K, thanks in part to Heinrich Nordhoff (ex-Opel).

One other thing occurs to me: do you suppose Henry II would keep the OTL body style? Add a 4-dr?
 
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