One of the most successful and well-known Volkswagen products is … the humble currywurst, a type of sausage that Volkswagen has been producing for decades. The carmaker originally started churning out these sausages for its factory canteens in 1973, but these days they’re widely sold in Germany, complete with an actual Volkswagen part number. For the record, the part number is 199 398 500 A.
The dish consists of a bockwurst-style sausage with spicy ketchup and curry powder. You can find currywurst anywhere in Germany, from the Nürburgring to Checkpoint Charlie, and visitors to Volkswagen’s Autostadt theme park can also have it for lunch. A while ago, Volkswagen also offered it as a pre-packaged, microwaveable lunch.
As Auto Motor und Sport reports, Volkswagen has now expanded sausage production to China. Beginning in September of 2025, workers at Volkswagen’s Chinese factories have also been able to have the factory correct dish for lunch, and by the end of October, 120,000 sausages had been served. That’s a good number, but AMS says that VW produces seven to eight million sausages per year for Germany and 550 tons of ketchup. Yes, China has some catching up to do.
AMS also quotes Marcus Greiner, Volkswagen’s catering boss, as saying that the currywurst is the true equalizer at VW, something that the board of directors and the factory line worker both enjoy. The actual recipe for the sausage is protected as carefully as with Coca Cola and the Big Mac sauce: only Greiner and Dietmar Schulz, head of food production at VW, control the recipe. VW’s Chinese sausages are produced locally, not imported from Germany.
A key figure is that Volkswagen makes twice as many sausages per year as it makes Volkswagen branded cars. In 2025, VW produced 4.73 million vehicles globally, out of which 1.3 million were made in Europe and two million in China. The biggest bump in production figures was in South America, with an 18.5 percent improvement to 568,200 vehicles compared to 2024. Both US and China saw around an eight percent drop, while European production was up 5%.
Volkswagen’s passenger cars have been essential in Chinese car production. The second-gen Jetta and the Santana sedan version of the second-generation Passat were produced under license in China for decades, as some of the first “modern cars” made in the country after joint ventures with Western carmakers were allowed in the 1980s, and VW quickly formed partnerships with FAW and SAIC.
By 1997, the Santana had 90 percent local parts content, and the image above shows a facelift version sold in China.
Top graphic images: Volkswagen; DepositPhotos.com
I want so badly to try this.
The most amazing part is that based on the part # 199 398 500 A, it hasn’t had any revisions since initial release, unlike their car parts which receive a new part # suffix every time the wind changes.
That must be the top-level assembly part number. The subassemblies and components have probably had revisions, but they don’t roll the revision on the top level assembly. If they could provide the full BOM with revision levels that would be helpful.
I love how that Santana image is basically showing this boring-ass sedan as a shingin gift delivered directly from the heavens! Stunning.
Caused more toxic emissions than Dieselgate.
Maybe the humble Currywurst will save VW’s declining sales in China after all. Who knew the answer wasn’t EVs and software defined vehicles, but a shift into the culinary sector.
Currywurst is one of my favorites whenever I’m in Germany, but I’ve never had the VW version. If only they sold the ketchup in the US. It’s got an actual VW part number which is so cool. Not that I can’t make my own currywust sauce (which I do). Frankly I’d also buy the frozen meal if it were available. Maybe they can do a deal with one of the two Aldi’s and make it available once or twice a year at Aldi or Trader Joe’s. (Yes, there are 2 Aldi’s in Germany (Nord and Sud), and one goes to market in the US as Aldi (Sud) and the other is Trader Joe’s (Nord).
It would slot in well with Aldi’s Oktoberfest specials every year.
…I want this gray market import, but I don’t think it’s going to last the 25 years…
I run currywurst as a special, occasionally. Despite a review of “quite good” from some Germans passing through a festival I was at, locals don’t seem to have a taste for it. What a shame.
As a Curry, I put curry powder on a lot of things. But now I have a new use for it. I suspect it won’t be quite as popular as VW’s version, though.
This is the man who put a million on black, and it came up red. This is the man who married a Sex Kitten, just as she turned into a cat. This is the man who fucking loves curry sausages.
How long until the sauce recipe is stolen and VW loses all that business to a home grown company.
Anyways, most positive thing I’ve seen from VW in a few years now. Good for them, looks like a real strong start to 2026?