In 1969, Volkswagen bought failing carmaker NSU. The German company was merged with Auto Union to create Audi NSU. Since this merger meant that NSU would be producing Audi vehicles, their own designs were no longer of any use. As such, Volkswagen decided to make use of one of NSU’s main designs. Volkswagen soon decided that Claus Luthe’s design for a mid-size family saloon would make for a good family saloon to compete for sales with the Type 4.
The NSU design was originally supposed to feature a Wankel rotary motor, as that was NSU’s signature engine. However, Volkswagen decided to fit the K70 with a much more conventional inline four-cylinder engine, borrowed from the newly launched Audi 100. A lot of the other mechanical components of the car were also borrowed from the Audi 100, as Volkswagen would take advantage of the Audi-NSU merger.
NSU had originally planned to show the car at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show, but due to conflict between Auto Union and NSU, the car was pulled from the show. After AU and NSU were merged to form Audi, there were no more issues, and Volkswagen would reveal the car to the public in late 1969. Production of the car began in August 1970, with the cars coming off the assembly line at Volkswagen’s new Salzgitter plant, rather than at NSU’s original factory.
The K70 was quite successful and would sell over 210,000 units over its 5-year production run. It would not be as successful as the Type 4 but for a car that almost never got sold, it was quite a successful model for Volkswagen. The launch of the Passat essentially killed off the K70, along with the Type 4 and Type 3 saloons. The K70 was clearly a major reference for Giorgetto Giugiaro when he was designing the Passat, as the car featured a similar square body with rectangular headlights and taillights.
The Volkswagen K70 was released at a time when the company was going about to through their biggest transition ever, leaving behind many classic models to move into the future. And it must be said that for what was intended to be a stopgap car, the K70 did quite well as far as sales go. However, the K70 would also essentially mark the end of NSU, a company that had almost existed for 100 years when VW bought it. NSU would continue producing cars under their own name until 1977, when the company died out for good.
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