WOLFSBURG, Germany -- At its massive headquarters plant here, Volkswagen AG made 515,000 cars last year. But cars aren't the factory's highest-volume product. "We make 1.5 million currywursts a year," boasts Klaus Labersweiler, head of the car company's meat department, while giving a tour of his white-tiled facility. "That's more wursts than cars."

In fact, Europe's largest auto maker is expanding its sausage production and extending the line. Its butcher shop, located in a corner of its assembly plant here, supplies about two dozen company plants and offices in Germany and hopes to reach VW cafeterias across Europe.

In Wolfsburg, employee canteens have added soup made from the company's best wurst. Soon there will be VW currywurst spread, for smearing on bread at breakfast. Still in development: VW currywurst ragout and a microwavable two-wurst package suitable for vending machines.

How Volkswagen built one of the auto industry's strangest sidelines is an unusual tale of industrial history. It dates back to the Wolfsburg plant's origin as a Nazi government project before World War II.

When construction was started in 1938, Wolfsburg was little more than a castle and a few hundred people. For the thousands of workers who built the first "people's car," the plant had to provide housing and food. During the war, the plant employed slave laborers. Afterward, the British army restarted production, and again the plant had to provide many basics for its employees.