History | Volkswagen Group Italia

If Volkswagen Group Italia, the Italian subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group (and distributor for the brands Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Škoda, SEAT, CUPRA and Audi), is an established company, much of the credit goes to Gerhard Richard Gumpert, founder and first chairman of the company, born under the name “Autogerma S.p.A”. Arriving in Italy in 1940 as legation secretary of the German Embassy, he fell so much in love with our country and its people that he first did his utmost to help the war-stricken population and then started a business there.

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1954 - 1963

As early as 1951 Gumpert imported the first Volkswagens and in 1954, having ratified the contract as general importer of Volkswagen vehicles in Italy, founded Autogerma in Bologna. The aim: to sell the Beetle, the only model then produced by the Wolfsburg company.

Deeply convinced that more important than sales was service, Gumpert built up a structured sales and after-sales network, personally choosing - one by one - the first dealers.

Autogerma's first premises were in a small building in Via Piave and included a spare parts warehouse, showroom and offices. At that time, the network had 46 sales outlets covering the entire territory; from the beginning, mechanics were specifically trained directly in Wolfsburg.

In 1956 Autogerma moved to Via Marzabotto, also in Bologna. The new headquarters boasted a spare parts warehouse of 6,000 square metres, a large exhibition area, classrooms and workshops for training purposes.
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1964 - 1973

In the mid-1960s, two events contributed significantly to Autogerma's growth: the construction of the central spare parts warehouse in Verona in 1965, and the ratification of the contract as general importer of Audi NSU vehicles in Italy in 1966.

The company's development was also reflected in the number of employees (from the initial 26 to 124 in 1964) and the number of Volkswagen centres, which by 1964 had grown to 702, comprising dealerships, workshops and service outlets.

On 16 June 1964, a curious feat graced the covers of trade magazines and the pages of newspapers: Bent-Axel Schlesinger and Franz Kuen crossed the Straits of Messina at the wheel of a production Beetle, modified and made amphibious to allow propulsion in water.

The following years saw the company grow steadily and prepare for the next step: in 1973 Autogerma became a joint-stock company.
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1974 - 1983

In 1974 Autogerma's headquarters were moved from Bologna to Verona. The administrative departments were housed in a modern 6-storey building built next to the existing spare parts warehouse, with a total of 2,700 square metres for offices, representative areas and services.

Contextually, the Volkswagen and Audi sales networks were merged.

1974 was an important year also for the launch of the Golf, a model designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro that would write significant pages in the history of the Volkswagen brand.

The 1970s saw the company consolidate its position. By 1976, over 600,000 Volkswagen Group vehicles were on the roads of Italy and in 1977 a prestigious milestone was celebrated: the 250,000th Beetle imported into Italy.

In the early 1980s, Autogerma's sales figures reached record levels - in 1981, in particular, more than 100,000 Volkswagen and Audi vehicles were sold in one year, with a market share of 7.3 per cent.
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1984 - 1993

1985 was another important year for Autogerma: the company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG and the spare parts warehouse was expanded, adding 8,800 square metres of covered space to the already available 17,250 square metres. In the same year, the Volkswagen and Audi car fleet in Italy reached another record figure: 1.5 million vehicles.

In the following years, also thanks to the new company structure and state-of-the-art facilities, the company experienced a period of great development. In 1986 over 200,000 vehicles were delivered in Italy, with a market share of 8.8%, and Autogerma was acknowledged as ‘Importer of the Year’.

In 1990, with 241,718 vehicles sold, the company achieved a market share of more than 10 per cent for the first time; the following year, Volkswagen and Audi sales rose to more than 250,000 units, and in 1992 more than 300,000 vehicles were registered, with a market share of 12.3 per cent.
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1994 - 2003

1994 was another important year for Autogerma, for two reasons: the move to the new – and current - headquarters,with a 52,000 square metre Parts Distribution Centre, and the incorporation of Škoda Italia and SEAT Italia.

More recently, the 2000s saw the company consolidate its position, with important numbers and a positive trend.
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2004 - 2013

Among the milestones was the change of name: as of 1 January 2007 Autogerma became Volkswagen Group Italia. This choice was tied to the international dimension of the company, a leading player on the Italian automotive scene and recognised as an important reality within the Volkswagen Group.

Two years later, in 2009, the Spare Parts Distribution Centre in Anagni (Frosinone) was opened: a 18,700 m2 facility, which, in addition to the area dedicated to the storage and handling of material, includes a top-level training centre. A significant step towards an even more efficient coverage of the national territory.
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2015 - today

The transformation of mobility has also begun: not only a technological switch from the combustion engine to the electric motor, but also a new concept of mobility, with new formulas, new services, new products.

And still on the subject of transformation, Volkswagen Group Italia also wanted to renew its look.

In 2020 the company started a renovation process that was completed after just over two years. The building now boasts high-efficiency systems, offices adapted to smart working modes and a photovoltaic system to support the charging of electric cars for both its own fleet and employees. The extensive work on the headquarters has drastically reduced the building’s environmental impact, making a significant contribution to achieving the targets set by Volkswagen Group Italia's environmental mission: by 2025, to cut CO2 emissions from company activities by 30% and reduce the headquarters' energy requirements by 20% vs 2019.