In the presence of Melquiades Morales Flores, Governor of Puebla, Rocío Ruiz, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, and other representatives drawn from public life, Dr Jens Neumann, Member of the Management Board of Volkswagen AG and head of the Region North America, and Reinhard Jung, Chairman of the Volkswagen de México management board, gave the signal to start production of the ñÚltima Ediciónî.
Neumann emphasised that, with the ñÚltima Ediciónî, the Beetle would be showing itself at its best and added: ñTrue stars, and their fans, know when itÍs time to quit.î He went on to say that for many years, Volkswagen in Mexico, had been about more than just the Beetle. Since it was founded in 1964, VW de México had almost always been market leader in the passenger vehicle segment. Currently the Group is at the top of the table with a market share of some 28 percent across the three brands Volkswagen, Seat and Audi.
Jung reminded those present that in March 1954, the first imported Beetle reached the shores of Mexico, prior to the start of production in an assembly plant near Mexico City in 1955. In total, he said, 1.7 million Beetles had been built in Mexico, of these, 100,000 vehicles had been for the export markets. Additional best sellers, such as the Golf, Jetta, New Beetle and New Beetle Cabrio, had contributed to a production total of 5.7 million vehicles, of which 2.6 million had been exported. He added that Volkswagen de México, with some 14,000 employees, was a major factor in the economic development of the country.
A total of 3,000 ñÚltima Ediciónî Beetles will be built, and will be available in the colours Aquarius Blue and Harvest Moon Beige. The Beetle has a 1.6-litre petrol engine and a power output of 34ækW. In addition to standard equipment, the special model has chrome trim strips, and chrome parts such as bumpers, hub caps and mirrors. The model is enhanced with colour-coded rims and whitewall tyres, a rear shelf, and a radio with a CD player and four speakers.
Views from Mexico
"It must be the catalytic converter," Ramirez concluded. "That wouldn't have happened on the original vocho."
Bug lovers also put up with the fact that the cars never had a trunk, any sort of reliable heating system and they were loud.
"I think it was even noisier inside the car than outside, and that was noisy," said Teodoro Moreno, the 37-year-old leader of a bug aficionados club in Morelia, Mexico.
The approximately 300 workers on the bug production line will be offered other jobs at the Puebla plant, which also makes the Jetta and the New Beetle models, Volkswagen officials say.
"It's a little sad. It's been my whole life," said Armando Pasillas, 60, who has been assembling Bugs here since 1967. Nearby, workers hammered out the last Bugs at Volkswagen's plant in Puebla, just east of Mexico City. Hammering is literally involved in the decidedly low-tech production line, and even a wooden cudgel is used to bang recalcitrant parts into place.
"Vochos? That's the easiest thing to get parts for. They're all over the place," said Mexico City mechanic Eduardo Morales, who offers complete bug tuneups for $40.
And even after the last one rolls off the assembly line, the legend will remain. Almost everyone here has a bug story.
"Almost every middle-class family in Mexico has owned a vocho," said Bureau, "so this car is almost like a part of the family."
Bureau tells of the time when his wife noticed the smell of gas when driving the couple's 1968 bug. She stopped and found gasoline spewing out of the bug's fuel pump.
"My wife just took a sock and tied it around the broken pump," Bureau recalled. "She made it home with no problem."
Source: wheelspin.com
