Karmann

Karmann was established in 1901 when Wilhelm Karmann purchased Klages, a coachbuilder founded in 1874, and renamed the business.[2] The company then grew together with the expanding automobile industry.[2] Karmann became known for its work on convertibles, coupés, and other niche models.

After World War II and the reconstruction of the plant destroyed in the war, Karmann turned its focus on contract manufacturing and development for Volkswagen. As early as 1935/36, Ferdinand Porsche had asked Karmann to investigate the possibilities of developing a prototype for a Volkswagen convertible. The chaos of the war prevented the idea from being pushed forward, as well as the cooperation with Volkswagen from starting 15 years earlier. On 1 August 1949, Wilhelm Karmann signed an order from Volkswagen for 1,000 "four-seater, four-wing convertible Type 15" - the Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet. Over the next 50 years, a total of 2,548,765 Beetle Cabriolets would be produced for Volkswagen.[3][4]

In addition to the Beetle Cabriolet and Karmann Ghia, all cabriolet variants of the VW Golf as well as the Scirocco, and Corrado were built by Karmann. The 1960s[5][6] saw the expansion of the company and further vehicle plants were set up in São Bernardo do Campo (Brazil) and Rheine. In the years after 1965, complete vehicles and bodies of the BMW New Class Coupé, and its successor, the larger E9, were produced in Rheine. Installation of the engine and final assembly were handled by BMW at the Munich plant. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Karmann produced the body shell of the BMW 6 Series Coupé and the convertible models of the Ford Escort as complete vehicles. From the beginning of the 1990s, the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, European-market Kia Sportages and from 1997 the Audi Cabriolet (type 89) and the Audi A4 Cabriolet (from 2002), as well as the Chrysler Crossfire (2003) and Mercedes-Benz CLK Cabriolet (A209, 2003) were produced as complete vehicles. Production of VW's Vento/Jetta (1992/93) and the Golf Variant A3 (1997/99) also shifted from Volkswagen in Wolfsburg to Karmann in Osnabrück.[7][1]

From 1985 to 1989, Karmann produced the Merkur XR4Ti (an American-market version of the Ford Sierra for the Merkur brand); and from 2003 to 2007, the Chrysler Crossfire coupe and convertible for Chrysler, at the time DaimlerChrysler. Many Karmann-built vehicles feature a small wagon wheel emblem, the coat of arms of Osnabrück, where the company was founded. A large part of the development of the Crossfire was done independently by Karmann, and the vehicle was produced at their Osnabrück facility. Karmann U.S. also supplied the top sub-assemblies for the convertible variants of both the third-generation Chrysler Sebring and Ford Mustang.

Karmann assembled complete knock down (CKD) kits in an agreement with American Motors (AMC).[8] In 1968, AMC introduced the Javelin, a new competitor in the U.S. "pony car" segment. AMC did not have a manufacturing subsidiary in Europe, therefore, Karmann assembled the American-designed car for distribution in Europe.[9] Karmann built the cars in Rheine with 280 horsepower (209 kW) 343 cu in (5.6 L) V8 engines.[10] About 90% of the necessary components were shipped by boat from the U.S.[11] All were SST trim versions and their name, Javelin 79-K stood for AMC's "79" model number and the "K" for Karmann.

A small number of vehicles were also produced in Brazil (São Bernardo do Campo). The Osnabrück facility also produced the chassis and body panels of the Spyker C8 Spyder.

The production facilities in Osnabrück, Chorzów, Poland, Yokohama, Japan, Sunderland, UK, Puebla, Mexico, and Plymouth Township, U.S. manufactured roof systems for convertibles including the Mercedes-Benz CLK, the Renault Mégane CC, the Nissan Micra C+C, the Pontiac G6, the Chrysler Sebring, the Ford Mustang, the Bentley Continental, the BMW 1 Series, and the Volkswagen New Beetle Cabriolet.[7]

Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 (1961–1966)

Karmann Cheetah Concept 1970.

Chrysler Crossfire convertible top in operation

Since its beginning in 1901, Karmann built more than three million complete vehicles of the models as follows, exceptions as indicated:

On 8 April 2009, Karmann filed for insolvency proceedings due to the sharp decline in demand for cars, and the company's financial obligations.[17] The employment protection contracts of the large OEMs with the unions and the technological progress in vehicle construction led to the fact that the production of niche vehicles was no longer outsourced, but rather carried out within the OEM production network. Volkswagen, Karmann's longtime partner, revealed on 24 October that it had made an offer to acquire the company.[18]

On 20 November, Volkswagen took over the factory buildings, machinery, plant and land from the Karmann insolvent estate. With the exception of roof systems, Volkswagen Osnabrück encompasses former Karmann divisions: production systems (metal group), press shop, body shop, paint shop, assembly and technical development.[19]

On 4 November 2010, Finland's Valmet Automotive signed an agreement to buy Karmann's roof-component sections in Osnabrück and Żary, Poland.[20] Karmann's North American operations were sold in August 2010 to Webasto Group.[21] Effective 25 February 2010, the Japanese production site of Karmann was acquired by Magna International. Magna Steyr also manufactured the roof system for the Infiniti G37 Convertible in addition to the roof system for the Nissan 370Z Roadster.[22]

The Volkswagen-owned operations have produced the following: