In 2011, Volkswagen launched the People’s Car Project to inspire the people to imagine the future of cars. 30 million people submitted over 260,000 car ideas. As an epic conclusion to the project, we had to take all these ideas and create one car.

In 2013, over a 10-part online series, Volkswagen built the People’s Car, a culmination of the ideas of 30 million people in China. This massive undertaking was a collaboration between automotive design students from two prestigious universities in China, Volkswagen’s Director of Design, leaders from various creative fields (a pop idol, a filmmaker, and a fashion designer), and the people of China.

Volkswagen unveiled the concept car – a highly fashionable MPV that seats 7 people – at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. We also premiered a commercial that showcased how the people’s ideas integrated into the innovative features of the People’s Car.

This campaign dramatically changed how Volkswagen interacts with its customers.

Audiences got to watch their ideas come to life in the “Building the People’s Car” 10-part online series. The series was also accompanied by the People’s Choice, a digital poll that invited viewers to vote for their favorite designs each episode. For the finale, Volkswagen unveiled the People’s Car at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show.

The People’s Car – the first car created by the people, for the people – became a call to the automotive industry to revolutionize how cars should be made in the future.

The 10-part online series averaged 1.2 million viewers per episode, boosting the rate of new followers on social media by 300%.* The People’s Car became a top 10 trending topic on Weibo (China’s Twitter).** As a result, Volkswagen purchase intent increased by 18%.*

The People’s Car was the first Volkswagen created by the people of China. With 260,000 user ideas inspiring its final design, the People’s Car became the biggest crowdsourced product in history.***

* Source: PCP User Database Report, 2013

** Source: Sina Weibo Daily Trending Topics Ranking, Feb 27th, 2013

*** Source: T+D Reporting and Analytics