Awards

• Joint winner of Hagley Prize in Business History 2014
• Nominated for George L. Mosse Prize 2014
• Nominated for Laura Shannon Prize 2015
• Nominated for Ralph Gomory Prize 2014

Overview

At the Berlin Auto Show in 1938, Adolf Hitler presented the prototype for a small, oddly shaped, inexpensive family car that all good Aryans could enjoy. Decades later, that automobile-the Volkswagen Beetle-was one of the most beloved in the world. Bernhard Rieger examines culture and technology, politics and economics, and industrial design and advertising genius to reveal how a car commissioned by Hitler and designed by Ferdinand Porsche became an exceptional global commodity on a par with Coca-Cola. Beyond its quality and low cost, the Beetle's success hinged on its uncanny ability to capture the imaginations of people across nations and cultures. In West Germany, it came to stand for the postwar ""economic miracle"" and helped propel Europe into the age of mass motorization. In the United States, it was embraced in the suburbs, and then prized by the hippie counterculture as an antidote to suburban conformity. As its popularity waned in the First World, the Beetle crawled across Mexico and Latin America, where it symbolized a sturdy toughness necessary to thrive amid economic instability. Drawing from a wealth of sources in multiple languages, The People's Car presents an international cast of characters-executives and engineers, journalists and advertisers, assembly line workers and car collectors, and everyday drivers-who made the Beetle into a global icon. The Beetle's improbable story as a failed prestige project of the Third Reich which became a world-renowned brand illuminates the multiple origins, creative adaptations, and persisting inequalities that characterized twentieth-century globalization.

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9780674050914

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Reviews

The story of the Volkswagen Beetle is complex, interesting, international, unlikely, and utterly fascinating. Rieger does an excellent job of bringing together the history, events, and people that produced an iconic automobile that beat all the odds.--C. J. Myers Choice (10/01/2013)

The Beetle had a stupendous run, which...Bernhard Rieger traces in his absorbing account...Rieger has written a fascinating book that will inevitably find resonance among those who were themselves touched by the magic of an object made of steel, glass, and plastic that was designed in the heart of Hitler's Reich.--Paul Hockenos The National (05/09/2013)

The People's Car by Bernhard Rieger chronicles the life of the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, from its 1930s origin as a propaganda tool for Germany's Third Reich through to the modern day, a run of popularity spanning a remarkable nine decades. Rieger's research details the car maker's obsessive pursuit for high-quality, low-maintenance and utterly dependable motoring, which were the treasured hallmarks of the Beetle through the middle part of the 20th century...While the meteoric postwar rise of the Beetle presents a chance to marvel at the model's simple appeal and outstanding longevity, the years before its manufacture began present the most fascinating reading... The People's Car is an exhaustive...and fascinating glimpse at a car that stood the test of time and of changing consumer tastes.--Steve Colquhoun Sydney Morning Herald (07/06/2013)

Rieger extracts from the history of the Volkswagen not just the story of a product--iconic though it was--but also its significance for Germany's national image since the 1930s. Deeply researched, this history makes a cracking good read.--Jane Caplan, Co-Editor Of concentration Camps In Germany: The New Histories

Author Information

Bernhard Rieger is Professor of European History at the University of Leiden.

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