It’s hard to find another VW Beetle on Mexico’s roads. The former cult car of the Mexicans with the roaring boxer engine has almost completely disappeared from the streets 20 years after the end of production in the country. Sometimes you can still see a lovingly maintained version from one of the many Beetle fan clubs, a copy of the last sky-blue edition or a “Vocho” made from leftover parts, as the Mexicans affectionately called the Beetle. But you have to search for a long time. The German cult car has long been as inseparable from Mexico as tacos and tequila. While VW stopped production of the post-war model in Germany in 1978, the model continued to be built in Mexico for decades. At some point, the Mexicans were even convinced that the Vocho was not a German car, but a local one.
However, the Beetle was not only a bestseller, but also in a way helped the birth of the country’s auto industry, which is now one of the most successful sectors in the country and keeps Mexico’s economy on track. The foundation for this was laid with the first production of the Beetle: in 1967, the first examples rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, 120 kilometers south-east of Mexico City.
The relationship lasted almost half a century. When the hunchback gradually went out of fashion in Germany, it was just beginning to become a symbol of a mobile society in Mexico.
Anyone who’s lived in Mexico long enough remembers the days when taxis in the capital were practically non-existent but the two-door Beetles. Sometimes they were painted yellow and white, then green and white, then gold again. But they were always available and convenient. There was no passenger seat. Those who drove along took a comfortable seat in the back seat. The toy manufacturer Matchbox even dedicated a model to the iconic taxi.
Ready for export
Beetles produced in Mexico were still shipped to Germany until 1986.
(Photo: Volkswagen)
The success story of the VW Beetle began rather accidentally. A few Volkswagens were also presented at the first German-Mexican industrial exhibition in 1954. Then seven of them took part in a more than 3,000-kilometer race from the south-east of the country to the US border. All the Beetles ran and ran and ran to the finish without any problems – the myth of the indestructible car was also born in Mexico.
But the Beetle had to fight for its place in a market dominated by large US cars. The Mexicans initially scoffed at the plump two-door car as “ice slicers”. But later they learned to appreciate the advantages of the car. The Beetle was easy to repair and didn’t shy away from difficult conditions – that was a convincing selling point for hundreds of thousands of Mexicans. In 1993, the best Beetle year, every fourth of the 395,000 cars sold in Mexico was a Vocho. Until 1986, the “Mexico Beetles” were even exported to Germany.
International success of the economic miracle car
The Beetle was not only an economic miracle vehicle in Germany: the model was built in 20 countries on all five continents – from South Africa to the Philippines, Australia to Costa Rica, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Volkswagen was manufactured or at least assembled almost everywhere – a total of 22 million times. In Germany it was over in 1978, in Brazil in 1996. In Mexico the love for the Beetle lasted longer.
For a quarter of a century, the Beetle was the unrivaled market leader in Mexico. That only changed in the course of the 1990s, after the North American free trade agreement Nafta also opened up the car market in Mexico. Demand continued to decline. While VW sold 40,510 Beetles in 2000, in 2002 it was only half as many. Although the Beetle was still the cheapest car with a price of around 6500 euros. But for around a thousand euros more you could get a four-door car with more comfort.
Worldwide success
The Beetle was also in demand internationally.
(Photo: Volkswagen)
Only on July 30, 2003 – after 35 years of production and 1.7 million vochos – was it finally over. Most recently, a nostalgic edition rolled off the assembly line with whitewall tires, chrome trim strips, rear shelf and special paintwork. The last beetles should be reminiscent of the early versions of the cult car.
In the end, building the Beetle in Puebla looked like a handicraft compared to the modern manufacturing facilities that were used at the plant to assemble modern cars for the whole world. As in the early days, workers in overalls assembled each Beetle by hand, welded door frames and roof parts. Protective mask and welding torch were the only tools. In a one-shift operation from Monday to Friday, around 53 Beetles per day rolled off the assembly line in Puebla.
Today BMW, General Motors and Tesla are pushing into Mexico
But the sometimes somewhat outdated Beetle factory was something like the birthplace of today’s auto nation Mexico. The country is now the seventh largest car producer and the fourth largest car exporter in the world. Last year, a total of 3.5 million vehicles rolled off the assembly line in 22 vehicle factories from 14 manufacturers, an increase of 11.55 percent compared to the previous year.
Mexico could soon even challenge Germany for the place as the sixth-largest producer. The US electric car manufacturer Tesla will soon start building a gigafactory near the metropolis of Monterrey in northern Mexico. The investment volume amounts to five to ten billion dollars. The first vehicle is scheduled to roll off the production line there as early as 2024.
VW production in Mexico
Today the country is one of the most important production locations for the automotive industry worldwide.
(Photo: Volkswagen)
With the settlement of Tesla, “Mexico reaffirms its leading position in the manufacture and export of vehicles all over the world,” says José Zozaya, head of the Mexican Association of the Automobile Industry AMIA. “This investment will attract more,” says the AMIA President.
The Munich automobile group BMW is also investing 800 million euros in its plant in San Luis Potosí in central Mexico. Among other things, fully electric cars are to be manufactured there from 2027. BMW also wants to build an assembly center for high-voltage batteries in the country.
The arrival of Tesla and BMW adds to the eight electric vehicle factories already operating in the country, owned by global auto giants like General Motors and Ford. Audi also wants to produce the electric version of the Q5 at its Mexican plant near Puebla.
And Volkswagen, the creator of the Beetle, is one of the biggest players in the Mexican market today. The production in Puebla is the largest automobile plant in Mexico and also one of the largest plants in the cosmos of the group. 13,500 workers work in Puebla. A total of 294,408 vehicles were produced there in 2021.
The Jetta, Taos and long-wheelbase version of the Tiguan are currently rolling off the assembly line in Mexico. In addition, the company has been manufacturing engines in its own plant in Silao for ten years. Because VW has long since left the Beetle behind.
More: Volkswagen is investing one billion euros in South America