Which company owns the Volkswagen brand?

Volkswagen Group owns the Volkswagen brand. Volkswagen is the Group’s original and flagship passenger-car marque, rather than a brand owned by Ford, Mercedes-Benz, or BMW.

The company began in Germany in 1937, originally organized to build an affordable “people’s car”—the vehicle that became famous as the Beetle. Volkswagen later expanded into a multinational automotive group through acquisitions and controlling stakes in other manufacturers.

Today, Volkswagen Group’s portfolio has included Audi, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Ducati, and commercial-vehicle businesses. This structure causes a common mix-up: Volkswagen is both the name of a consumer car brand and part of the larger corporate name, Volkswagen Group or Volkswagen AG.

The Golf is therefore a Volkswagen-brand model, while the Golf’s parent corporation is Volkswagen Group. The distinction matters because the Group owns and coordinates multiple marques, but those marques retain their own badges, model ranges, and market identities.