The originating concept behind the first Volkswagen, the company, and its name, is the notion of a people's car – a car affordable and practical enough for common people to own. Hence the name, which is literally 'people's car' in German, pronounced [ˈfɔlksvaːɡən]). Although the Volkswagen was mainly the brainchild of Ferdinand Porsche and a significant historical figure, the idea is much older than Nazism, and existed since mass-production of cars was introduced. Contrary to the United States, where the Ford Model T had become the first car to motorize the masses, contributing to household car ownership of about 33% in 1920 and some 46% in 1930, in the early 1930s, the German auto industry was still mostly limited to luxury models, and few Germans could afford anything more than a motorcycle: one German out of 50 owned a car.
In April 1934, an important figure gave the order to Porsche to develop a Volkswagen. The epithet Volks- literally, 'people's-' had been applied to other significant consumer goods as well, such as the Volksempfänger ('people's radio').
In May 1934, at a meeting at Berlin's Kaiserhof Hotel, the leader insisted on a basic vehicle that could transport two adults and three children at 100 km/h (62 mph) while not using more than 7 litres of fuel per 100 km (32 mpg US/39 mpg UK). The engine had to be powerful enough for sustained cruising on Germany's new Autobahnen. Everything had to be designed to ensure parts could be quickly and inexpensively exchanged. The engine had to be air-cooled because, as they explained, not every country doctor had his own garage. (Ethylene glycol antifreeze was only just beginning to be used in high-performance liquid-cooled aircraft engines. In general, water in radiators would freeze unless the vehicle was kept in a heated building overnight or drained and refilled each morning.)
The 'People's Car' would be available to citizens of Germany through a savings scheme, or Sparkarte (savings booklet), at 990 Reichsmark, about the price of a small motorcycle. (The average weekly income was then around 32RM.)"
