Karmann
Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known as Karmann, was a German automobile manufacturer and contract manufacturer based in Osnabrück, Germany. Founded by Wilhelm Karmann in 1901, the company specialised in various automotive roles, including design, production and assembly of components for a wide variety of automobile manufacturers, including Chrysler, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group.
The company was broken up in 2010, after filing for bankruptcy the previous year. Its convertible roof components were purchased by Webasto, Magna Steyr and Valmet Automotive, while the Osnabrück assembly plant, vehicle development, tools and assembly systems were transferred to Volkswagen.
History
Karmann was established in 1901 when Wilhelm Karmann purchased Klages, a coachbuilder founded in 1874, and renamed the business. The company then grew together with the expanding automobile industry. 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.
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 saw the expansion of the company and further vehicle plants were set up in São Bernardo do Campo 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. Karmann also built complete cars for Porsche to increase production of the 912 and 911 models. In 1969 they started to manufacture the Porsche 914 and all four cylinder cars were made by them. 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 and the Audi A4 Cabriolet, as well as the Chrysler Crossfire and Mercedes-Benz CLK Cabriolet were produced as complete vehicles. Production of VW's Vento/Jetta and the Golf Variant A3 also shifted from Volkswagen in Wolfsburg to Karmann in Osnabrück.
From 1985 to 1989, Karmann produced the Merkur XR4Ti ; 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 kits in an agreement with American Motors. 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. Karmann built the cars in Rheine with V8 engines. About 90% of the necessary components were shipped by boat from the U.S. 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. 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.
The Karmann Ghia
The VW Karmann Ghia Type 14 is Karmann's best-known vehicle. Wilhelm Karmann Jr. conceived the idea in 1953, one year after taking over his father's car body company in Osnabrück. Karmann wanted to produce a sporty and open two-seater on the technical basis of the VW Beetle. Volkswagen was also interested in a sporty roadster that would be loved by American soldiers stationed in Europe and taken to the USA.Luigi Segre, the boss of Carrozzeria Ghia in Turin, was included in the plan on the occasion of the Geneva Automobile Salon. A chassis of the beetle was shipped from Osnabrück to Italy and Segre put a self-designed body on the chassis. To Karmann's amazement, Segre presented him in Paris not a roadster, but a coupé.
Shortly afterwards, the automobile artwork was presented to the VW General Director back in Osnabrück. VW boss Heinrich Nordhoff liked the coupé with its flowing lines and rounded shapes, so he agreed to build the car on the same day. In the first year of production, a total of 10,000 coupés were delivered instead of the planned 3,000 units.
The VW Karmann Ghia became a sales success with over 360,000 units, even if the performance of the car with only 30 HP and 115 km/h top speed did not correspond to the sporty appearance. 1957 followed the Karmann Ghia Cabriolet and 1961 the bigger Type 34, the Karmann Ghia 1550, the design of which also came from Carrozzeria Ghia.
In the quantities produced by Karmann, the Karmann Ghia coupés and convertibles were later slightly surpassed by both the Golf Cabriolet and the Scirocco; only when the first Karmann Ghia types were added together via the coupé and convertible was the Karmann Ghia the most successful Karmann vehicle.
Production to 2010
Since its beginning in 1901, Karmann built more than three million complete vehicles of the models as follows, exceptions as indicated:| car make / type | years | number of cars | comments |
| AMC Javelin 79-K coupé | 1968 | 281 | Built in Rheine |
| Audi Cabriolet | 1997–2000 | 12,112 | Built in Rheine |
| Audi A4 cabriolet & Audi S4 cabriolet & Audi RS4 cabriolet | 2002–2008 | 81,959 | B6 and B7 |
| BMW 2000 C/CS | 1965–1970 | 13,696 | only body in white |
| BMW E9 | 1971–1975 | 21,147 | Built in Rheine |
| BMW 6-Series | 1976–1989 | 86,314 | |
| Chrysler Crossfire coupé | 2003–2008 | 37,896 | |
| Chrysler Crossfire convertible | 2003–2008 | 16,269 | |
| Ford Escort FEC convertible | 1983–1990 | 104,237 | Built in Rheine |
| Ford Escort convertible | 1990–1997 | 80,620 | Built in Rheine |
| Ford Escort RS Cosworth | 1992–1996 | 8,082 | Built in Rheine |
| Merkur XR4Ti | 1985–1989 | 42,000 | U.S. version of the Ford Sierra XR4i |
| Land Rover Defender | 2002–2005 | 2,777 | Built in Brazil |
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class cabriolet | 1998–2003 | 115,264 | |
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class coupé | 2000–2002 | 28,706 | |
| Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class cabriolet | 2003–2008 | ||
| Nissan Micra C+C | 2006–2010 | ||
| Porsche 356 B Hardtop | 1961-1962 | <2,300 | |
| Porsche 911 | 1966–1971 | 911, 911T, and 911E coupes only | |
| Porsche 912 | 1966–1969 | coupe only | |
| Porsche 914 | 1969–1976 | 118,949 | |
| Porsche 968 | 1991–1994 | 11,803 | only body in white |
| Renault 19 convertible | 1990–1996 | 29,222 | body in white and soft tops |
| Renault Mégane I convertible | 1996–2003 | 74,096 | body in white and soft tops |
| Renault Mégane CC | 2004-2010 | only retractable hardtops | |
| Triumph TR6 | 1969–1976 | 94,619 | |
| Volkswagen Beetle convertible | 1949–1980 | 331,847 | |
| Volkswagen Karmann Ghia coupé | 1955–1974 | 362,601 | |
| Volkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible | 1957–1974 | 80,881 | |
| Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Type 34 | 1961–1969 | 42,505 | |
| Volkswagen Golf Mk1 convertible | 1979–1993 | 388,522 | |
| Volkswagen Corrado | 1988–1995 | 97,521 | |
| Volkswagen Golf Mk3 convertible | 1993–1997 | 129,475 | |
| Volkswagen Golf Mk3 Variant | 1997–1999 | 80,928 | |
| Volkswagen Golf "Mk4" convertible | 1997–2001 | 82,588 | Updated Golf Mk3 |
| Volkswagen Scirocco I | 1974–1981 | 504,153 | |
| Volkswagen Scirocco II | 1981–1992 | 291,497 |