Here, on the anniversary of the founding of Volkswagen on May 28, 1937, LIFE.com offers a series of photos made by Walter Sanders at the company’s famous Wolfsburg plant in 1951.

In 1945, a rare and curious Volkswagen car was shipped from its bomb-damaged German factory to England. Here, a commission of leading British motor manufacturers, chaired by Sir William Rootes ...

So when Volkswagen announced in 2018 that it would convert its Zwickau factory, the largest private employer in the area, to manufacture nothing but electric vehicles, it was a big deal.