I think Hahn’s most impactful and best-known work came from an extremely important decision Hahn made after becoming president of Volkswagen of America in 1959. VW’s lineup at that time was something very peculiar to American eyes: diminutive cars with the engine in the wrong end of the car, making funny noises and shaped like either like a mechanical igloo or a rolling loaf of bread. Hahn needed to make the many positive qualities of these cars appealing to the masses of American buyers, who were used to being shown flash ads of cars as idealized dream-chariots, long and low and gleaming. That wasn’t what a Volkswagen was. Hahn saw this, and hired advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (now DDB) who came up with an idiosyncratic ad campaign that literally changed the world of advertising. Instead of showing cars as these fashionable glamour-barges, the DDB VW ad campaign showed a Volkswagen with a dented fender, or covered in snow or mud, or smashed into a cube or called a lemon, and somehow the ad could still convince you that these were smart, durable, economical, enjoyable cars to own. Fine, we’ll look at some:
Of course DDB deserves the credit for coming up with this revolutionary campaign, treating readers like intelligent friends instead of idiot marks to be dazzled and conned into buying a car. But it’s worth remembering that Hahn was the one who pulled the trigger on this, the man with the vision to see that VW’s unique offerings in the American market needed to be treated like something new and different. And it sure as hell worked. During his tenure as VW of America’s president from 1959 to 1973, VW was the best-selling imported car in America, year after year, and became a massive juggernaut of small car sales in America. Hahn left VW in 1973, but came back in 1982 as Chairman, where he began an expansionistic policy, acquiring carmakers like SEAT in Spain, and this move was indicative of a larger global vision for the company. When the Iron Curtain finally collapsed and access to the former Soviet states became more open, Hahn saw an opportunity and joined forces with Skoda of the Czech Republic, and his work led to VW being one of the earliest European carmakers to forge alliances with Chinese carmakers, helping make VW a huge player there.
Hahn was excellent at keeping VW from falling back into its old trap of focusing so much effort on just one basic model/platform, as it did in the air-cooled era, and under his leadership the Golf/Rabbit became hugely successful. Despite this, competition from Japan and other factors saw VW’s American marketshare fall, something Hahn always regretted. The simple truth is that VW would not be the global powerhouse it is today without Hahn, and his savvy decision making regarding how the Beetle should be advertised – and, really helping to define what the character of the Beetle should be – is a massive contribution to automotive culture and beyond. Now come the seventies, VW had to hold it’s head up to competition. The application of the DKW/Auto Union FWD architectures they acquired was a smart and successful move, particularly in markets outside of North America. Somehow, they just didn’t knock it out of the park here. Don’t get me wrong, VW did well, but just never dominated the same way again. I attribute it to their seesaw commitment to bringing European product to enthusiasts and then u-turning to making local market me too vehicles every few years (say, starting with German Golf to Pennsylvania Rabbit). Nobody knows who they are. Their current SUV flea market is an example to the market pandering trend. At some pint they will probably shift back to not chasing market share as much, but the customers will only remember the crap. (I love my garbage car son so much.) I took the hard plastic door pockets off of the door cards and used them to replace the sagging elastic pockets in my Super Beetle; that was a lovely fix and the price was definitely right. The other bit that stands out is the combination Philips/common screwdriver from the factory tool kit. It is a clever little item and I still use it. https://youtu.be/xz7qxQcRYl4 “even better known but not exactly positive, like one Adolph H” That guy spelled his first name Adolf.
