Wolfsburg in the context of "Factory"

Lower Saxony is a German state (Land) in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with 47,614 km (18,384 sq mi), and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 Länder of the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas, Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken, though by declining numbers of people.

Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony, one being the city of Bremen, the other its seaport, Bremerhaven (which is a semi-exclave, as it has a coastline). Lower Saxony thus borders more neighbours than any other single Bundesland. The state's largest cities are the state capital Hanover, Braunschweig (Brunswick), Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg, Göttingen, Salzgitter, Hildesheim, mainly situated in its central and southern parts, except Oldenburg.

Volkswagen (VW; German pronunciation: [ˈfɔlksˌvaːɡŋ̍] ) is a German automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by the German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it is today after World War II by British Army officer Ivan Hirst. The company is well known for the Beetle and serves as the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group, which was the world's largest automotive manufacturer by global sales in 2016 and 2017.

The group's largest market is China, which accounts for 40% of its sales and profits. The name Volkswagen derives from the German words Volk and Wagen, meaning 'people's car', or more directly 'folk's wain (wagon)'.

Volkswagen AG, or Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Since the late 2000s, it has been a publicly traded family business owned by Porsche SE, which in turn is half-owned but fully controlled by the Austrian-German Porsche and Piëch family. The company also offers related services, including financing, leasing, and fleet management. In 2024, it was the world's second-largest automaker by sales. It has maintained the largest market share in Europe for over two decades. It ranked 11th in the 2024 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies. In 2024, Volkswagen Group was the largest company in the European Union and the largest car manufacturer in the world by revenue.

The Volkswagen Group sells passenger cars under the Audi, Bentley, Cupra, Jetta, Lamborghini, Porsche, SEAT, Škoda and Volkswagen brands, motorcycles under the Ducati name, light commercial vehicles under the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand, and heavy commercial vehicles via the marques of the listed subsidiary Traton (International Motors, MAN, Scania and Volkswagen Truck & Bus). Software and techstack under CARIAD. It is divided into two primary divisions: the Automotive Division and the Financial Services Division. As of 2008, it had about 342 subsidiary companies. Volkswagen also has three joint ventures in China, FAW-Volkswagen, SAIC Volkswagen and Volkswagen Anhui. The company has operations in roughly 150 countries, and it has 100 production facilities across 27 countries.

Braunschweig (German: [ˈbʁaʊnʃvaɪk] ) or Brunswick (English: /ˈbrʌnzwɪk/ BRUN-zwik; from Low German Brunswiek, local dialect: Bronswiek [ˈbrɔˑnsviːk]) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser. In 2024, it had a population of 272,417. The Braunschweig-Wolfsburg-Salzgitter region had 1.02 million residents including the cities Wolfsburg and Salzgitter, it is the second largest urban center in Lower Saxony after Hanover. The urban agglomeration of Braunschweig had a population of 551,000 with almost 45% having a migration background, making it the most diverse urban agglomeration in the whole state. The city consists of 37.5% immigrants (approximately 102,000) with a high number of migrants coming from other European countries, Asia and Africa. 73% of the Germans residing in Braunschweig come from different parts of the country, particularly North Rhine Westphalia, Hessen and the former states of East Germany. Braunschweig is considered an important regiopolis. It is one of the largest regiopolitan cities in Northern Germany and the largest regiopolis in Lower Saxony. The city is seen as a major hub within the region due to it having multiple characteristics of a metropolitan city in a smaller scale or in a comparative amount to other metropolitan cities in Germany.

127.12 km² (49 sq. mi.) of the city's area is made up of greenspaces such as parks and forests. Braunschweig has a population density of 4,121 per km² (10,673 per sq. mi.) excluding the green areas because only about 66 km² (25½ sq. mi.) of the total area is properly urban, making it quite a dense city. Many districts of the city have a density over 4,450 people per square kilometer (11,525 per sq. mi.) such as Weststadt, Innenstadt, Westliches Ringgebiet, Nordstadt, or Östliches Ringgebiet. Due to the city's limited urban core and efforts in preserving green spaces, 81% of the residential buildings are multi-storey apartments limiting 74% of the flats with a space below 100 square meters (1000 sq. ft.). The city is constructing more residential areas within city limits so that by 2030 the population increases by 15.000 from 2014.

Salzgitter (German pronunciation: [zaltsˈɡɪtɐ] ; Eastphalian: Soltgitter) is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren (metropolitan areas) of Lower Saxony. With 107,674 inhabitants and 223.92 square kilometres (86.46 sq mi) (as of 2015), it is the largest city by area in Lower Saxony and one of the largest in Germany. Salzgitter originated as a conglomeration of several small towns and villages, and is today made up of 31 boroughs, which are relatively compact conurbations with wide stretches of open country between them.

The city is part of two urban areas, Hildesheim and Braunschweig, because of its uneven distribution of urban quarters. Due to the uneven population distribution, the density of the areas within the Braunschweig urban area is over 1,500 people per km² with the Lebenstedt area having over 3,000 people per km². Over 70% (76,500) of the population lives within the urban area of Braunschweig, but most of the area is within the urban area of Hildesheim. 54.1% (41,000 people) of the city's population within the Braunschweig urban agglomeration area are immigrants or the children of immigrants.

Major Ivan Hirst (1 March 1916 – 10 March 2000) was a British Army officer and engineer who was instrumental in reviving Volkswagen from a single factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, into a major postwar automotive manufacturer.