Bernardus Marinus "Ben" Pon, Sr. (April 27, 1904 – May 15, 1968) was a Dutch businessman. In 1947, ''Pon's Automobielhandel'' ("Pon's Car Dealership"), became the first dealer outside of Germany to sell vehicles manufactured by

Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...

. Ben's father, Mijndert Pon, owned a shop (founded in 1898) that sold sewing machines, household articles and tobacco goods at ''Arnhemseweg'' (Arnhem Road) in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. As of 31 January 2023, the municipality had ...

. Later, he added

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

bicycles and

motorized bicycle A motorized bicycle is a bicycle with an motor or engine and transmission used either to power the vehicle unassisted, or to assist with pedalling. Since it sometimes retains both pedals and a discrete connected drive for rider-powered propu ...

s to his range of goods. Beginning in 1920, Pon sold Opel and Ford automobiles as well as

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

tires. Ben and his brother Wijnand took over the shop in 1931 and renamed it ''Pon's Automobielhandel''. On August 8, 1947, The Pons became Volkswagen's general importer for the Netherlands. During their first year they received 51

Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, officially the Volkswagen Type 1, is a small family car produced by the German company Volkswagen from 1938 to 2003. One of the most iconic cars in automotive history, the Beetle is noted for its distinctive shape. Its pr ...

s from

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...

. The company also became an importer of

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

s in 1948. A sketch made by Pon inspired the engineers at Volkswagen to develop the VW Type 2 Transporter (a van, commonly called the "VW Bus"), a vehicle that became a cultural icon for the Hippie generation of the 1960s. In 1949, the first Beetle was shipped to the United States. Half a million were to follow by 1960. A mere two years later there were one million Beetles in the U.S. It has not been ascertained that Ben Pon was significantly involved in this success story, even though he was among the first to export them into the U.S. It cannot even be proved that he sold the first Beetle in the United States. He was, in fact, unable to find a partner for a distributorship and left the country with an unpaid hotel bill,This story is told in
''The Beetle Driver''
but eventually it made him a multimillionaire and one of the richest people in the Netherlands. In 1971, the dealership was separated from the export division and ran under the name of ''Pon Dealer''.

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

later became a partner of Pon's. The business continued to grow, and in 1980 Pon's son, former Formula One racing driver Ben Pon, Jr. incorporated

Pon Holdings Pon Holdings BV is a Dutch conglomerate in the transportation sector. It is one of the five largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, and owns bicycle brands Caloi, Cannondale, Cervélo, Derby Cycle (owner of Focus), GT, Gazelle, IronHo ...

, an exempt private company with approximately 9,000 employees.

References

External links

Ben Pon's profile at ''VWTrendsWeb''

''Pon'' website
( Dutch) including a
History of ''Pon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pon Sr., Ben 1904 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Dutch businesspeople People from Amersfoort Volkswagen Group people