VARIOUS: MEXICO PREPARES FOR LAST VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE TO ROLL OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF PRODUCTION
Record ID:
645944
VARIOUS: MEXICO PREPARES FOR LAST VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE TO ROLL OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF PRODUCTION
- Title: VARIOUS: MEXICO PREPARES FOR LAST VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE TO ROLL OFF THE ASSEMBLY LINE AFTER ALMOST 70 YEARS OF PRODUCTION
- Date: 31st July 2003
- Summary: (W1) WOLFSBURG, GERMANY (NOVEMBER 2, 1998) (REUTERS) SLV INTERIORS OF THE VW BEETLE MUSEUM
- Embargoed: 15th August 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PUEBLA AND MEXICO CITY, MEXICO / UNKNOWN LOCATION / WOLFSBURG, GERMANY
- City:
- Country: Mexico Germany
- Topics: General,Quirky,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVABEFO4UNR3MVYP35NII363AR2M
- Story Text: Mexico prepares for last VW Beetle to roll off assembly line after almost 70 years of production.
The Volkswagen Beetle is to Mexico City what the red Double Decker bus is to London, and on Wednesday (July 30, 2003), the Mexican unit of the German car giant Volkswagen AG VOWG.DE> will stop producing the "Love Bug" that became an icon of the flower power era of the 1960s.
The plant in the central state of Puebla has been the sole producer of the model worldwide since 1996. It began producing the Beetle in 1952 and was currently making 560 New Beetles a day from Monday to Friday .
The Beetle has enjoyed cult status but its relatively old technology meant sales began to fall in the late 1970s.
Since 1999, the unit has seen sales drop from 36,500 units to 24,500 last year. So far this year it has sold 4,500 Beetles.
But the car has remained a symbol of Mexico City, where there are currently around 1.65 million Beetles in circulation and it was adopted as the standard street taxi and painted bright green and white.
"With the exit of this car (from the market), it will be many years before another vehicle takes its place as far as popular taste, said Beetle salesman Alfonso Martinez.
Created in 1938 on the orders of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler who wanted to give every German family a vehicle, this first Volkswagen, or people's car, entered mass production only after World War II.
In the model's 70-year history, 22 million air-cooled Beetles were produced at VW's factories around the world.
They were cheap and reliable, with the marketing slogan for years claiming "it will run and run and run".
The company plans to start making its Bora model, a medium-sized sedan - in 2005 with an investment of 180 million US Dollar and production targeted at around 100,000 cars a year. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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