Datum: 15.07.2003 13:29 20030715_Zeitungsnews_Goo gle.doc

Artikel aus der
Stuttgarter Zeitung
vom 12.07.2003
Mehr Fehler als ein Hund Flöhe und trotzdem ein Erfolg
Vom Auto fürs Volk zum Kultobjekt: Kein Wagen wurde je so oft gebaut wie der VWKäfer, der diesen Namen offiziell nie getragen hat
Am 30. Juli läuft im mexikanischen Puebla der letzte VW-Käfer vom Band. Damit wird der
Schlusspunkt hinter eines der faszinierendsten Kapitel der deutschen Automobilgeschichte
gesetzt. Begonnen wurde es in den dreißiger Jahren in Stuttgart von Ferdinand Porsche.
Von Harry Pretzlaff
Datum: 15.07.2003 13:29
20030715_Zeitungsnews_Goo
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Ein Charakter auf vier Rädern: Die vielen Rollen des VW Käfer im internationalen Kino
Solider Typ für Langzeitbeziehungen
Ein Mann und eine Frau. Nach einem ersten gemeinsamen Tennisspiel stehen sie beieinander
und finden sich offensichtlich ziemlich sexy. Er kruschtelt in seiner Sporttasche, sie streicht sich
unaufhörlich eine Haarsträhne aus dem Gesicht. Sie fragt: Wollen Sie nicht mitfahren? Er:
Gerne. Wohin fahren Sie denn? Sie: In die Stadt rein. Er: Ach, ich muss raus. Sie: Ähm. Ja, also
ich muss auch raus. Er: Aber Sie sagten, Sie müssen rein. Sie: Ah, ja, aber ich muss auch rein,
ich meine ... Ich hasse es, allein zu fahren. Ich habe eben gern Gesellschaft."
Die Szene aus "Der Stadtneurotiker" endet damit, dass Diane Keaton alias Annie Hall den
kleinen dünnen Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) mitnimmt und die beiden ein Paar werden. Der
Volkswagen, den sie fährt, ist - ein VW Käfer. Keine zufällige Requisite. Der Käfer galt stets als
ein bisschen crazy - in den Herbie-Filmen konnte der eigenwillige Kerl sich verlieben, fliegen und
Gangster jagen. Manche empfinden ihn bis heute als hübsch und freundlich, wie er da eher
gemütlich mit seinen Pummelbäckchen über die Straßen der Welt brubbelt. Sein Image: solider
Typ für Langzeitbeziehungen. Die Boxermotoren konnte man noch als Bootsmotoren verwenden,
wenn das Auto selbst schon durchgerostet war. War ein dicker Freund auch im Winter, schon
wegen des Heckmotors. Jeder Situation war er gewachsen, im Film und sonst auch, zuverlässig,
fleißig und stets ein wenig bieder. Irgendwie deutsch, sehr deutsch. Unzählige Fernsehpolizisten
stiegen aus ihm und assistierten Erik Ode, dem Kommissar, dessen beruflicher Rang sich nur mit
einer größeren bayerischen Limousine vertrug.
Der Käfer als gemeines harmloses Haustierchen. So passt diese fahrbare Praline des deutschen
Wirtschaftswunders bestens zu der etwas exzentrischen, hübschen und bodenständigen Annie,
zu dieser frischnaiven Provinztante im arrogant-verquasten New York. Die, wenn sie verlegen ist,
Tandaradei, Tandaradei, Tandaradei sagt, die ihre Großmutter Omama nennt und aus Wisconsin
in die große Stadt gezogen ist, um das schwierige Fach zu studieren: Wie werde ich eine richtig
neurotische Linksintellektuellen mit Liebe zur europäischen Kultur. Thomas Mann und so. Denn
genau darum geht es immer, wenn ein VW Käfer durch einen amerikanischen Film saust: um den
nie endenden Flirt mit dem alten Europa, dem europäischen Way of Life - zwei Jahre vor dem
"Stadtneurotiker" hatte Schlöndorff Angela Winkler in seiner Böll-Verfilmung "Die verlorene Ehre
der Katharina Blum" in einen dunkel glänzenden Käfer gesetzt.
Die Schlaumeier, die Einzelgänger, die Sonderlinge fahren gern Käfer, auch mal einen geklauten.
Ob in New York oder in San Francisco. In "Is was Doc" flüchten der
Gesteinsmusikwissenschaftler und die hoch intelligente Dauerstudentin in dem gestohlenen
Hochzeits-Käfer vor gemeinen Gangstern, die natürlich zuhauf in US-Schlitten unterwegs sind.
Ein Abenteuer, das die zwei Chaoten zusammenbringt. Der Käfer ist ein mobiles Liebesnest, The
Love Bug eben. Deshalb auch hat Annie am Ende von "Der Stadtneurotiker" keinen Käfer mehr,
sie hat Alvy verlassen.
Sie lebt in Los Angeles, hat genug von dieser europäischen, melancholisch geprägten
Ostküsten-Mentalität. Annies neue Bekannte sind keine blassen verarmten Minderleister. Und
natürlich erst recht keine kleinen Leute. Denn mit diesem Image war der Käfer gestartet, als
Kleine-Leute-Auto. Er blieb es in der deutschen Komödie "Natürlich die Autofahrer". Heinz
Erhardt, der Vertreter des schrulligen deutschen kleinen Mannes überhaupt, gewinnt auf einer
Tombola ein Käfer Cabriolet. Also muss der Verkehrspolizist, der Autofahrer gar nicht leiden
kann, unter allerhand Ach und Weh auch noch einen Führerschein machen.
Der Käfer vereint, ist Projektionsfläche für alle, er befördert Bücherpakete von depressiven
Intellektuellen wie eine fünfköpfige Familie. Ende Juli wird der letzte VW Käfer vom Band rollen.
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Ferdinand Porsche hat gerade für den Motorradhersteller Zündapp einige Prototypen eines
Kleinwagens gebaut, ein ähnlicher Auftrag von NSU in Neckarsulm ist fest gebucht, da erreicht
den erfahrenen Autoentwickler 1932 eine offizielle Einladung zu einer Informationsreise in die
Sowjetunion. Kurz zuvor hat er sich selbstständig gemacht und in Stuttgart die Dr. Ing. h. c. F.
Porsche GmbH Konstruktionen und Beratungen für Motoren- und Fahrzeugbau gegründet.
"Zuerst kam uns diese Einladung so fantastisch vor, dass es uns schwer fiel, sie ernst zu
nehmen", erinnerte sich Porsches Sohn Ferry später in seinen Memoiren. Doch die Sache ist
ernst gemeint. Ferdinand Porsche reist in den Osten, besichtigt die sowjetische
Fahrzeugindustrie und erhält zum Abschluss in Moskau eine ungewöhnliches Stellenangebot: Er
soll Generaldirektor werden, Entwicklungschef der Fahrzeugindustrie in Stalins sowjetischem
Riesenreich. "Dies war zweifellos ein faszinierendes Angebot, ausgestattet mit allen jenen
Vorteilen einer privilegierten Person", schreibt Ferry Porsche. Doch nach reiflicher Überlegung
lehnt der 57-Jährige ab, vertraut auf unternehmerischen Erfolg im Westen - trotz
Weltwirtschaftskrise und sechs Millionen Arbeitslosen.
Wäre die Entscheidung Ferdinand Porsches anders ausgefallen, hätte die Automobilgeschichte
wohl einen anderen Lauf genommen. Vielleicht wäre der Käfer ein Russe geworden? So aber
nutzt Porsche die aus den Entwicklungsprojekten für Zündapp und NSU gewonnenen
Erkenntnisse für ein anderes Großprojekt, nämlich für sein "Exposé, betreffend den Bau eines
deutschen Volkswagens". Adolf Hitler hat in seiner Haft in der Festung Landsberg die Biografie
des amerikanischen Autoindustriellen Henry Ford gelesen.
Nach der Machtergreifung will Hitler die Massen dem amerikanischen Beispiel folgend
motorisieren. Zur Eröffnung der Automobilausstellung 1934 in Berlin fordert er von den
Fahrzeugbauern ein Auto für alle, einen robusten Kleinwagen zum Preis eines Motorrads, den
sich jeder leisten kann. Die Fahrzeugbauer zeigen kein Interesse. Manche haben schon einen
solchen Wagen im Angebot. Anderen erscheint der von Hitler vorgegebene Preis - weniger als
1000 Reichsmark - ruinös. Doch die Reichskanzlei macht Druck, und am 22. Juni erhält
Ferdinand Porsche schließlich vom Reichsverband der Automobilindustrie den
Entwicklungsauftrag. In einer Garage seines Hauses am Feuerbacher Weg auf dem Stuttgart
Killesberg richtet er eine kleine Werkstatt ein. Dort werden die ersten der stromlinienförmigen
Wagen zusammengebaut. Sein Sohn Ferry testet die Prototypen auf kurvigen
Schwarzwaldstraßen, in der Rheinebene, im Neckartal.
"In kurzer Zeit wird der Führer sein großartiges Netz von Autobahnen mit tausenden und
abertausenden kleinen Käfern beleben", schreibt damals die "New York Times" und prägt damit
den Begriff für den Rundling auf Rädern, der sich viel später auch hier zu Lande einbürgern, aber
nie zum offiziellen Namen werden sollte. Eine amerikanische Fachzeitschrift schreibt damals gar
abfällig von einem "mistkäferähnlichen" Gefährt.
Für den Käfer wird ein eigenes Werk gebaut. Am Himmelfahrtstag, dem 26. Mai 1938, wird
dann mit viel Pomp und einem Wald von wehenden Hakenkreuzfahnen bei Fallersleben auf
halbem Weg zwischen der Reichshauptstadt Berlin und den Stahlschmelzen und Kohlerevieren
des Ruhrgebiets verkehrsgünstig am Mittellandkanal der Grundstein für eine Retortensiedlung
gelegt. Mit der Bahn und in Bussen werden zehntausende von Uniformträgern ins
niedersächsische Niemandsland gekarrt.
Nach der Feier nimmt Hitler auf dem Beifahrersitz eines VW-Cabrios Platz, Ferry Porsche
chauffiert ihn zum Bahnhof Fallersleben, wo der Sonderzug wartet. Ferdinand Porsche sitzt
hinten. "Die Straße zum Bahnhof Fallersleben war von tausenden von begeisterten Menschen
gesäumt, die immer wieder Blumen in unseren Wagen warfen", so Ferry Porsche in seinen
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Memoiren.
Doch bald ist es mit dem Jubel vorbei. Nach Hitlers Angriff auf Polen sind alle Pläne zur
Automobilmachung des Volkes Makulatur. Nur einige hundert ausschließlich schwarz lackierte
Vehikel werden gefertigt und an Bevorzugte des Naziregimes verteilt. Nun schuften
Zwangsarbeiter in den Fabrikhallen, wird der Volkswagen unter Aufsicht von Ferdinand Porsche
zum geländegängigen Kübelwagen umgerüstet, der an die Front rollt. Und bald fallen Bomben
auf die braunroten Backsteinbauten am Mittellandkanal.
Als Deutschland in Trümmern liegt, beginnt in den Wolfsburg Motor Works, wie die britischen
Besatzer das Werk nennen, zwischen Schutt- und Metallbergen mit viel Improvisationstalent die
Produktion des Volkswagens. Wolfsburg ist damals nicht viel mehr als eine Barackensiedlung.
Und der Nachkriegskäfer ist ein "armseliges, hässliches Ding, ein Wagen, der mehr Fehler hatte
als ein Hund Flöhe", wie der damalige VW-Chef Heinrich Nordhoff urteilte. Dennoch wird der
Wagen gekauft, der nach der Währungsreform zunächst 5400 Mark kostet. Und auch der Export
kommt langsam in Gang. Die Wolfsburger Konstrukteure finden sich mit den Mängeln nicht ab.
Jahr für Jahr wird etwas geändert, sowohl unter der Motorhaube als auch beim Blechkleid.
So wird 1953 hinten das zweigeteilte "Brezelfenster" durch ein ungeteiltes ersetzt. Stets jedoch
behält der Wagen seine charakteristische rundliche Form, dessen Dach manchen offenbar an
den Bauch einer Schwangeren erinnert und pränatales Wohlbefinden auslöst. "Sein
gedrungener, kapselartiger Innenraum vermittelt archetypische Gefühle der Geborgenheit",
meint damals der Hamburger Designexperte Nils Jockel.
Der Käfer tritt in den sechziger Jahren einen Siegeszug rund um die Welt an. Ferdinand Porsche
sollte dies nicht mehr erleben. Nach seiner Rückkehr aus französischer Haft war der
"Konstrukteur von Hitlers Gnaden", wie ihn der "Spiegel" später gnadenlos aburteilte, ein
gebrochener Mann. Ferdinand Porsche sei "politisch naiv wie ein Kind" gewesen, verteidigt sein
Enkel Ferdinand Piëch in seiner eigenen Autobiografie den umstrittenen "kantigen, eigensinnigen
Mann". Die "Distanz zum ganzen Brimborium der Nazis" sei doch nicht zu übersehen gewesen,
meint der ehemalige VW-Chef Piëch, der heute an der Spitze des Aufsichtsrats steht.
Im November 1950 fährt der Käfer-Konstrukteur noch einmal nach Wolfsburg. Er war "tief
beeindruckt, man spürte, dass er auf sein Lebenswerk stolz war", so Ferry Porsche. "Er schaute
sich alles sehr genau an und schien befriedigt darüber zu sein, dass in dem vor dem Krieg
geschaffenen Werk nun doch noch der zivile Volkswagen für normale Kunden produziert wurde,
für die er ihn eigentlich geschaffen hatte." Die Reise wühlt Porsche auf. Nach seiner Rückkehr
erleidet er einen Schlaganfall, die letzten drei Monate seines Lebens muss er im Bett verbringen.
Der einmillionste Käfer läuft 1955 vom Band, 1967 ist die zehnte Million geschafft. Damals wurde
der Käfer zum klassenlosen Kraftfahrzeug und zum Kultauto. Mehr als eine Million Wagen liefen
damals jährlich von den Bändern. "Kommen Sie zum Käferstündchen", locken die
Werbestrategen damals, die schon von der Unsterblichkeit ihres Produkts träumten: "Werden
wir den Käfer je sterben lassen? - Davon kann keine Rede sein", heißt es in einer Anzeige.
Unvergesslich der andere Werbespruch: "Der VW läuft und läuft und läuft und läuft . . ."
Am 17. Februar 1972 überholt der Wagen des Wolfsburger Konzerns mit mehr als 15 Millionen
Exemplaren sogar das legendäre T-Modell von Ford als historischen Weltmeister der
Autoproduktion. Die Erfolgsstory ist allerdings nicht endlos. Wider Erwarten erlahmt die Zugkraft.
Im Vertrauen auf die Attraktivität des Dauerläufers ist VW in eine gefährliche Abhängigkeit von
seinem buckligen Bestseller geraten. Es ist versäumt worden, frühzeitig weitere attraktive
Modelle ins Rennen zu schicken. Ferdinand Piëch hat dies im Rückblick schonungslos auf den
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Punkt gebracht. "Ich bin zutiefst davon überzeugt, dass der Volkswagen-Konzern am Erbe des
Käfers fast zu Grunde gegangen wäre."" Erst Mitte der siebziger Jahre wagen die VW-Strategen
den großen technischen Sprung mit dem Golf, der sich glücklicherweise als ebenbürtiger
Nachfolger erweist.
Der kantige Golf markiert die radikale Abkehr vom Käfer, der bald Zug um Zug aus dem
europäischen Blickfeld verschwindet. 1978 läuft die Produktion in Europa aus. 1985 werden die
Lieferungen aus dem mexikanischen Puebla nach Europa eingestellt.
Einmal noch wird der Unverwüstliche mit dem luftgekühlten Boxermotor fern von Wolfsburg groß
gefeiert: Am 23. Juni 1992 läuft in Puebla laut hupend ein roter Käfer vom Band. Es ist das 21millionste Exemplar, das bald darauf sogar noch eine Ehrenrunde in der Residenz des damaligen
Präsidenten Carlos Salinas de Gortari in Mexiko-Stadt drehen darf. Eine Lautsprecherstimme
rühmt pathetisch den "momento historico", der Präsident schwenkt bei strahlendem
Sonnenschein eine Fahne mit dem blauen VW-Logo, während der Jubelwagen gemächlich am
Spalier der Honoratioren vorbeirollt.
Mit dem Start der "letzten Edition" ist die Produktion des legendären Dauerläufers in Puebla nun
in dieser Woche in die letzte Runde gegangen, nachdem der Absatz auch in Mexiko
eingebrochen ist. Die Wagen der "ultima edicion" werden hellblaue und cremeweiße sein. Sie
zeigen viel spiegelndes Chrom - Zierleisten, Radkappen, Stoßstangen - und rollen auf
Weißwandreifen. Am 30. Juli ist endgültig Schluss, nachdem im Laufe der Jahrzehnte mehr als
21,5 Millionen Käfer produziert worden sind. Der Letzte seiner Art wird ins Wolfsburger Museum
des Autokonzerns reisen.
Der Käfer war längst ein Anachronismus auf Rädern. "Wahre Stars merken, wann es Zeit ist
aufzuhören, und ihr Publikum bekanntlich auch", hat VW-Vorstand Jens Neumann bei einer
kleinen Feier in Puebla bei eingefleischten Käfer-Fans um Verständnis für den Abschied von dem
sympathischen Wagen geworben. Längst hat im Konzern der Golf die Rolle des Bestsellers
übernommen. In diesem Herbst wird die fünfte Golf-Generation auf den Markt kommen. Zudem
hält VW für unverbesserliche Nostalgiker den ebenfalls in Puebla produzierten Käfer-Nachfolger
New Beetle bereit. Der ist allerdings bei näherer Betrachtung ein Golf im Käfer-Kostüm. Darüber
kann auch das Blumenväschen am Armaturenbrett nicht hinwegtrösten. Der Designer Luigi
Colani hat dies in einem Rundfunkinterview aufgespießt. Der New Beetle sei nicht mit dem Käfer
zu vergleichen. Er habe einen "riesigen Motor, eine dusselige Außenform, einen Überluxus drin",
schimpfte Colani im Deutschlandradio. Der Käfer dagegen war ein "geniales Auto, mit dem sich
der einfache Mensch identifizieren konnte. Und jeder konnte dran rumbasteln."
Der Käfer war zweifellos eine einmalige industrielle Erfolgsstory. Doch sein Schöpfer hätte "sich
im Grab umgedreht, hätte er sehen müssen, dass seine Konstruktion nach dreißig, vierzig Jahren
noch aktuell war" - meint zumindest Ferdinand Piëch in seinen Memoiren. "21 Millionen Autos
eines Typs fertig zu bringen hätte er wahrscheinlich nicht als Großtat empfunden, denn dazu war
er viel zu kreativ." Als "glühender Ingenieur", so Piëch, habe Ferdinand Porsche "laufend das
Neue gefordert". "Er hätte es zu verhindern gewusst", mutmaßt der asketische Enkel kühn, "dass
ein und dasselbe Ding zig Millionen Mal reproduziert wird."
http://www.volkswagen.de/kaefergalerie/index.html; http://www.vwkaefer.de;
http://www.derkaefer.de; http://www.d-k-k.de
Aktualisiert: 14.07.2003, 05:04 Uhr http://www.stuttgarterzeitung.de/stz/page/detail.php/459800?_suchtag=2003-07-12
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ftd.de, Fr, 11.7.2003, 18:22
Die ´Käfer-Ära´ ist zu Ende
Kurz vor seinem endgültigen Aus ist der "Käfer" noch einmal zu großen Ehren gelangt. In der
mexikanischen Produktionsstätte Puebla wurde am Donnerstagabend eine Sonderversion des
weltweit berühmtesten Modells von Volkswagen mit dem Namen "Última Edición" vorgestellt.
Käfer 'Last Edition'
Sie gleicht fast genau dem Prototyp aus dem Jahre 1934. Der Käfer ist mit einem 1,6-LiterBenzinmotor ausgerüstet und soll eine Leistung von 34 KW (46 PS) bringen. Zusätzlich zur
Serienausstattung bietet das Sondermodell verchromte Zierleisten und Chrom-Anbauteile wie
Stoßfänger, Radkappen und Spiegel. Ein CD-Spieler und vier Lautsprecher vervollständigen das
Angebot.
Insgesamt 3000 Exemplare in den Farben himmelblau und beige sollen bis zum 30. Juli in Puebla vom
Band laufen, danach ist der "Käfer" nach fast 70 Jahren nur noch Geschichte.
"Wahre Stars merken, wann es Zeit ist aufzuhören, und ihr Publikum bekanntlich auch", sagte Jens
Neumann, Direktor der Volkswagenwerke im nördlichen Amerika. Nach seinen Angaben sollen von
der Sonderversion 2999 Fahrzeuge zum Preis von 84.000 Pesos (knapp 8000 Euro) verkauft werden.
Dies ist nur geringfügig mehr als der übliche Preis für den "Käfer" in Mexiko. Das letzte Exemplar soll
dann nach Wolfsburg geliefert werden, der Geburtsstätte des legendären Autos.
Volksfest in Puebla
Die Vorstellung des letzten "Käfers" war mit einem Volksfest unter einem riesigem weißen Zelt
verbunden, in das das Sondermodell von einem mexikanischen VW-Arbeiter hineingefahren wurde.
Zur Feier des Tagen wurden Spardosen, Aschenbecher und Kerzen in der Form des "Käfers"
ausgegeben. Auch eine Nachbildung von "Herbie", dem Star aus dem Film "Ein toller Käfer", war zu
bewundern.
Im Spätsommer soll die Produktion eingestellt werden
Das Werk in Puebla war das letzte, in dem das Fahrzeug mit Heckmotor noch hergestellt wurde.
Insgesamt wurden in Mexiko 1,7 Millionen Käfer gebaut, davon 100.000 für den Export. Brasilien hatte
die Produktion schon 1996 eingestellt.
Volkswagen in Mexico sei schon lange nicht mehr nur die "Käfermarke", sagte Neumann. VW de
Mexico sei seit der Gründung 1964 fast immer Marktführer im PKW-Segment gewesen. Mit rund 28
Prozent Marktanteil der drei Marken Volkswagen, Seat und Audi nehme der Konzern die
Spitzenposition ein, heißt es weiter. Rund 14.000 Mitarbeiter beschäftigt das mexikanische VW-Werk.
© AP , © Illustration: AP
http://www.ftd.de/ub/in/1057486305487.html?nv=hpm
Page 7
VW Beetle bugs off into history
15jul03
AS the oldest passenger car still in production, the old Beetle has enjoyed one last
moment of newness again, with Volkswagen unveiling the "Final Edition" of the bug,
a cult classic VW plans to stop producing in a few weeks.
The presentation of the "new" model came under a cavernous white tent near the last
Volkswagen plant, in the central Mexican city of Puebla.
After July 30, when the last car rolls off the production line, nearly 70 years of
automotive history of perhaps the best known, best-loved and biggest selling car of
all time comes to an end.
Armando Pasillas, a 60-year-old factory worker who has been building bugs in
Puebla since 1967, drove a last edition Beetle into the tent, then stood beaming as
journalists from around the world swarmed the vehicle.
Jens Neumann, president of Volkswagen's North American region, said 2999 of the
cars will be sold for $12,200 each.
The last car will be sent to the Beetle's birthplace in Wolfsburg, Germany.
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6751052%255E704,00.html
It's Time to Say Adios to VW Beetle
Sat July 12, 2003 07:39 AM ET
By Elizabeth Fullerton
PUEBLA, Mexico (Reuters) - The end is nearing for the old Volkswagen Beetle, the
much-loved Love Bug which will shortly go the way of other flower power-era icons
like kaftans and The Doors.
On Thursday, Volkswagen's plant in Mexico -- the only one in the world which still
makes the old-style Beetle -- launches one last retro edition of the plucky bug before
bringing down the curtain on nearly 70 years of history.
The "people's car" that was first commissioned by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler and went
on to become a symbol of the hippie revolution will almost certainly be put to rest for
good by the end of the month, according to the company.
Page 8
"There has never been a car like it, but I don't think production will go on beyond" the
end of July, said Christine Kuhlmeyer, head of corporate communication at
Volkswagen VOWG.DE in Mexico.
From Iceland to Malaysia, the original Beetle has attracted devoted fans like no other
car. A redesigned, sleeker version called the New Beetle was launched in 1998 but at
a price of $20,000 to $25,000 is no longer an everyman's car.
George Memetov, who started up the Classic Beetle Club in the Belarus capital
Minsk, considers owners of the original air-cooled, rear-engine vehicle to be a special
breed.
"It's a certain type of person who drives a Beetle. All people who have Beetles are
very open to ideas; they love life," he told Reuters by telephone.
For the 300 Mexicans who work on the Beetle production line at the plant in the
central Mexican state of Puebla, it will be like parting with a member of the family.
The factory will continue producing the New Beetle.
"It's a jewel for me. The little bug has given my family prosperity," said Armando
Pasillas, 60, who has worked for 37 years on the Beetle, which has been made in
Mexico since 1964.
"I like seeing them in the street because I know they have all passed through my
hands," he said. "I've left part of my life here," he added.
In 1996, Mexico became the last country to produce the old Beetle and since 1998
the car has only been sold in Mexico. The Volkswagen plant in Puebla is also the
only one worldwide to produce the New Beetle and that is mainly for export.
Beetle fans on the Internet swap tales of wacky stunts like successfully "sailing"
across New York harbor in a Beetle fitted with a propeller in 1960.
Another Web site recounts how by tampering with the Beetle's fuel tank, East
Germans made enough space to hide a person and that way managed to sneak
around 50 people to the other side of the Berlin Wall before its fall in 1989.
A BREED APART
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The Love Bug was conceived in the early 1930s out of Hitler's desire to produce a
cheap, durable Volkswagen (literally "people's car" in German) for the German
family.
The chubby, curvy little car took off after World War II, quickly becoming a symbol of
the German economic miracle.
As its popularity spread, the Beetle became the car of choice of the rebellious postwar generation in the United States and Europe, for whom it represented freedom
from the tight social restrictions of the time.
The Beetle sealed its cult status as the star of Disney's series of Herbie films, such
as "Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo."
In Mexico alone, there are 90 fan clubs and around 1.5 million Beetles in circulation.
In Mexico City, the bug, or "vocho" as it is known locally, is a stalwart. Painted white
and green, it is the standard model used by taxi drivers to crawl through heavy traffic.
U.S. fan Rick Mortensen was so taken with the curvy car that in 1985 he started the
Bug-O-Rama, an annual race and get-together for Beetle fans in Phoenix, Arizona.
Beetle owner Paul Cahill holds the record for the longest ownership of one car,
according to the Guinness Book of Records. He bought a bug in 1961 in Australia
and has driven it every day since then, clocking up 310,700 miles.
But all good things must come to an end. And when sales almost halved from 2000 to
2002 to 24,500 cars, Volkswagen decided to pull the plug on the legend.
New technology spawned a range of compact, efficient and fast cars like the Fiat Uno
and Ford Fiesta that edged the Beetle out of the market.
"At the end of the day, it's the customer who decides," said Volkswagen's Kuhlmeyer.
A decision by Mexico City's government to only give out future permits to taxis with
four-doors helped seal the two-door bug's fate.
In its heyday, over 1 million Beetles were produced annually worldwide. Yet over the
course of the years, the bug's basic design hardly changed.
Page 10
"One thing is sure: the Beetle never will disappear from the roads of our planet and,
above all, it never will disappear from the hearts of millions of people all over the
world," said Italian fan Mattia Zamana.
http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=3078445
Published Friday, July 11, 2003
Final Edition of Old VW Beetle Unveiled
By WILL WEISSERT
The Associated Press
PUEBLA, Mexico -- Volkswagen on Thursday rolled out a final "retro" edition of its famed Beetle,
the cult classic the company plans to stop producing later this summer.
Journalists and company officials gathered under a cavernous white tent to bid farewell to one of
the most famous cars in history. Gleaming with chrome trim and sporting a CD player, the new
bug was driven in by factory worker Armando Pasillas, who has worked at the plant since 1967 -three years after it opened in Mexico.
"You feel a little sad because it is finally over," he said. "We knew this day was coming for years,
and now it has arrived. All there is to do now is move forward."
The last bug is little-changed from its first prototype, pieced together in Nazi Germany in 1934.
During the years, the car's windshield has gotten wider, and the frame became more compact
and aerodynamic.
The plant in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City, was the only place the Beetle was still
being produced. Production for the U.S. market stopped in 1977 because the car's rear, aircooled engine didn't meet safety and emissions standards. Brazil stopped making it in 1996.
The bug remained wildly popular in Mexico for decades, but it fell out of favor recently as
growing trade agreements allowed competitors to flood the Mexican market with cheap, compact
vehicles.
Then Mexico City officials ordered the capital's taxi drivers to stop using the "vocho," Mexico's
Spanish nickname for the bug.
The green-and-white taxis, usually with their front passenger seat ripped out, were a symbol of
the city. They were also popular with kidnappers. Trapped behind the driver and with the
assailant blocking the passenger door, victims couldn't escape.
Still, the Beetle will remain a fond memory for most Mexicans.
Volkswagen plans to produce 3,000 final-edition Beetles, in sky blue and beige. The last Beetle
will roll off the assembly line July 30.
Page 11
Jens Neumann, president of Volkswagen's North American region, said 2,999 of the cars will be
sold for $8,000 each, slightly more than the Beetle's current $7,500 price tag. The last car will
be sent to the Beetle's birthplace in Wolfsburg, Germany.
"Right now, we don't want to think of such a sad moment," Neumann said. "We want to
celebrate with all of you the last great version of this sedan, the last edition."
Last modified: July 11. 2003 12:00AM
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030711/NEWS/307110340/1001/BUSINESS
Last VW Beetle to roll off production line
MEXICO CITY - Production of the classic Volkswagen Beetle, the most popular car ever, is coming to
an end in July as the world's last remaining Beetle assembly line closes in Mexico.
Market demand is not strong enough to justify continued production, said a spokesman at the
Volkswagen plant in the city of Puebla.
The Beetle "is not as competitive as it used to be," said VW plant spokesman Thomas Karig. The car
is "one of many when it comes to price and reliability," he said.
None of which sounded convincing for Mexican Beetle fanatics, who have nicknamed the car the
"vocho," and are not ready to see it go.
"It's a pity that an icon like the Beetle is disappearing," said Erick Rodriguez, a member of the Oval's
Only Club of Mexico, a VW Beetle owners club.
Beetle production in Mexico has plunged from 41,200 units in 2000 to 24,400 in 2002, according to the
electronic publication "Mundo Motor" (Motor World). The Puebla plant currently produces 53 Beetles a
day.
Production is ending in July, officials said, without giving a firm date. Germany's Stuttgarter
Nachrichten daily and RTL-Online reported earlier that production would end by late July.
In Mexico, the Beetle faces stiff competition from cars like the three-door Chevy Pop and the Hyundai
Atos, which like the Beetle cost around 7,000 dollars but offer more advanced technology.
"Yet the 'vocho' is the only car that guarantees that you will not be stranded in trips of up to 24 hours,"
Rodriguez said.
"And even though it looks small you know that you can put in a lot of things."
Proof that the Beetle is -- and will likely remain -- the most trusted auto in Mexico is that it is widely
used by Mexico City taxi drivers.
The real reason for ending production, according to Rodriguez, is that the classic Beetle is obsolete.
The cars do not have air bags -- a standard item in most modern vehicles -- and still uses old-fashion
drum brakes, not the more efficient, modern disk brakes.
Mass production of the Beetle first began in Germany in 1939, and became a global phenomenon
after World War II.
The first Beetles arrived in Mexico in 1954, and were so popular that Volkswagen opened a Beetle
plant in Puebla in 1964.
Page 12
At one point the Beetles were the most stolen auto in Mexico City, feeding an enormous market in
second-hand car parts, Rodriguez said.
VW stopped building the Beetle in Europe in 1978, but plants in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico
continued churning out the vehicles.
The South Africa plant eventually closed in 1979, and the Brazil plant closed in 1986.
More than 21.5 million Beetles have been sold since the car was first launched, according to
Volkswagen officials in Germany.
In 1991 a panel of automotive specialists named the Beetle the Car of the 20th Century, beating out
the Ford Model T.
But global demand has been dwindling since Volkswagen launched its revamped New Beetle in 1998.
Rodriguez, who has invested some 7,000 dollars in accessories for his two classic Beetles, joins other
Beetle owners racing the cars every weekend.
The one benefit he will reap: with the end of production, the value of his classic Beetles will rise, he
said.
AFP
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1372369-6078-0,00.html
Many fans mourn the end of vocho - VW Beetle to disappear in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, June 24 (AP): Mexicans remained faithful to the Volkswagen bug long after other
countries abandoned it, and many are mourning the announcement that production of the little cars
will end later this summer at a plant in Puebla, Mexico - the last factory still making them.
A flood of new, subcompact cars dampened demand for the bug and revealed an awful truth, even for
old Beetle lovers: the bug's time has passed. The failings of the car - known here as the vocho went
largely unspoken here, in part because it became "the people's car," in Mexico to a greater extent than
it ever did in Germany.
First offered in Mexico in 1964, the bug's low price, simplicity and ruggedness gave it mass appeal."I
don't think any car will ever have the impact, the significance that this car did,' said Raul Ramirez, 32.
"You can find spare parts practically at the corner grocery store, and you can fix them anywhere."
Fixing them anywhere was in fact what Ramirez was doing. Idled at the side of a traffic circle or
Mexico City's main boulevard, he was watching oily smoke pour out of the engine compartment of his
white 1999 bug, a burn-mark crackling the paint.
The bug - with its air-cooled engine - had a tendency to run, well, hot. Mexico City taxi drivers still
routinely prop open the rear engine compartment with empty oil cans to help cool the motor. Ramirez,
meanwhile, was performing classic bug repair techniques: opening the engine compartment to allow
heat to escape, jiggling wires and checking to see if the fan belt had broken.
"It must be the catalytic converter," Ramirez concluded. "That wouldn't have happened on the original
vocho." Catalytic converters were added in the 1990s in a desperate attempt to get the bug to meet
emissions standards. The bug was wildly popular with Mexico City taxi drivers, who would rip out the
front passenger seat to make it easier for customers to climb in and out.
The two-door bug taxis also allowed kidnappers and muggers to trap victims easily. Wedged behind
the driver and with the assailant at the only exit, the passenger had no way out. That was one reason
Mexico City authorities ordered taxi drivers to begin replacing their bugs with modern, four-door cars
last year.
Page 13
Then there was the patented bug noise-proofing."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. Moreno blames Volkswagen for not adopting solutions used by many bug enthusiasts to solve
the car's defects, like using simple cardboard soundproofing on the engine compartment.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/business/Viewdet.asp?ID=515&cat=j
VW unveils its final 'retro' Beetle
By Will Weissert, Associated Press
Production of old-style 'bug' will cease in Mexico
PUEBLA, Mexico - Volkswagen yesterday rolled out a final "retro" edition of its famed
Beetle, the cult classic the company plans to stop producing later this summer.
Journalists and company officials gathered under a cavernous white tent to bid
farewell to one of the most famous cars in history. Gleaming with chrome trim and
sporting a CD player, the new bug was driven in by factory worker Armando Pasillas,
who has worked at the plant since 1967 - three years after it opened in Mexico.
"You feel a little sad because it is finally over," he said. "We knew this day was
coming for years, and now it has arrived. All there is to do now is move forward."
The last bug is little-changed from its first prototype, pieced together in Nazi Germany
in 1934. Over the years, the car's windshield has gotten wider and the frame became
more compact and aerodynamic.
The plant in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City, was the only place the Beetle
was still being produced. Production for the U.S. market stopped in 1977 because the
car's rear, air-cooled engine didn't meet safety and emissions standards. Brazil
stopped making it in 1996.
The bug remained wildly popular in Mexico for decades, but it fell out of favor recently
as growing trade agreements allowed competitors to flood the Mexican market with
cheap, compact vehicles.
Then Mexico City officials ordered the capital's taxi drivers to stop using the "vocho,"
Mexico's Spanish nickname for the bug.
Page 14
The green-and-white taxis, usually with their front passenger seat ripped out, were a
symbol of the city. They were also popular with kidnappers. Trapped behind the
driver and with the assailant blocking the passenger door, victims couldn't escape.
Still, the Beetle will remain a fond memory for most Mexicans.
Volkswagen plans to produce 3,000 final-edition Beetles, in sky blue and beige. The
last Beetle will roll off the assembly line on July 30.
Jens Neumann, president of Volkswagen's North American region, said 2,999 of the
cars will be sold for $8,000 each, slightly more than the Beetle's current $7,500 price
tag. The last car will be sent to the Beetle's birthplace in Wolfsburg, Germany.
"Right now, we don't want to think of such a sad moment," Neumann said. "We want
to celebrate with all of you the last great version of this sedan, the last edition."
Volkswagen marked the occasion with souvenir piggy banks, ashtrays and candles
shaped like the rounded car. There was also a replica of Herbie the Love Bug, the
star of the wacky 1960s and 70s movies, and a film with footage showing the car as a
favorite among hippies and returning World War II veterans alike.
Company officials said Pasillas and other employees who worked on the old Beetle
will be reassigned to new jobs at the Puebla plant, which also manufactures the Jetta
and the futuristic new Beetle introduced several years ago as a successor of the bug.
While the old Beetle may no longer be in Volkswagen showrooms, it is far from gone,
said Reinhard Jung, president of the executive committee of Volkswagen Mexico.
"The vocho is disappearing from production, but that doesn't mean it will disappear
from the streets," he said.
Page 15
A crowd of photographers snap pictures of the
Volkswagen sedan 'last edition' yesterday at the
Puebla plant in Mexico. Outlined in chrome trim
and sporting a CD player, Volkswagen yesterday
launched the final edition of the famed Beetle. AP
photo
http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~26641~1506944,00.html
MOTORING NEWS
The end of the Beetle
German carmaker Volkswagen said on Friday it would finally cease production of its
legendary Beetle on July 30, nearly 70 years after its launch.
VW has decided to bury the Beetle, reputedly the world's most popular car ever sold,
owing to rapidly dwindling demand.
More than 21.5 million Beetles have been sold since the car was launched, but the last
ever Beetle will roll off the production line in Puebla, Mexico, at the end of this month as
part of a final "Ultima edicion" series of 3000 blue and beige cars, VW said in a
statement.
Mass production of the Beetle first began in Germany in 1939, and became a global
phenomenon after World War II.
The first Beetles arrived in Mexico in 1954 and were so popular that Volkswagen opened
a Beetle plant in Puebla in 1964.
VW stopped building the Beetle in Europe in 1978, but plants in South Africa, Brazil and
Mexico continued churning out the vehicles. The South Africa plant eventually closed in
1979, and the Brazil plant closed 1986.
In 1991 a panel of automotive specialists named the Beetle the Car of the 20th Century,
beating out the Ford Model T. VW launched a new revamped version of the car, called the
New Beetle, in 1998.
AFP
http://motoring.iafrica.com/newsbriefs/253160.htm
Classic rear-engine Beetle will no longer be built
Newsday
Page 16
Last Updated: July 9, 2003
Puebla, Mexico - Armando Pasillas speaks of the Volkswagen Beetle in the hushed
tones of a man bracing for a loved one's death.
"I'm getting prepared psychologically, telling myself that all things come to an end,"
the VW factory worker said somberly as he gazed at a row of gleaming Beetles
rolling off a Puebla assembly line - Beetles that will be among the last of the famous,
insect-shaped carlets.
After nearly seven decades of existence during which it became the world's most
popular auto, the VW Beetle will be moving on to that great junkyard in the sky.
In the coming weeks, Beetle production will stop at VW's Puebla plant, the only
facility still making the old Nazi creation that morphed into a symbol of the U.S.
counterculture movement.
Beetle fans around the world are calling it the end of an era.
But even die-hard supporters such as Pasillas, 60 - who reckons he's touched every
Beetle sold in Mexico in the 35 years that he's assembled the classic car at the VW
plant in this central Mexican city - admit the car can no longer compete with a slew of
similarly priced imports offering air bags, air conditioning and four doors.
"It's a wonder that we've sold this car in the 21st century at all," said Thomas Karig,
VW spokesman in Puebla. No other auto in history, Karig said, has changed so little
and lasted so long. Mexico is the only country where the car has been produced and
sold since 1996.
Newer Beetle more popular
A final, limited edition of the classic Beetle will be produced that incorporates some of
its early decorative features. After making a few thousand limited-edition Beetles, the
VW plant here will halt the car's production at a date this summer that has yet to be
set.
With its sales tumbling in recent years because of cheaper and fancier rivals, the old
Beetle "is no longer a priority" for VW, Karig said.
VW of Mexico will continue making the jaunty new Beetle, which appeared five years
ago and boasts a completely different engine and a modern, sleeker body. Among
other enticements, the new Beetle, which is popular among U.S. baby boomers, last
fall came out in a convertible model.
Page 17
But many purists disdain the new Beetle as merely an old Rabbit - another old VW
model that's now called the Golf - in an insect shell. "It's an homage, but nothing
more," said Mexico City Beetle fan Marcos Bureau, in a tone of polite distaste.
Bureau is editor of Vochomania, a Mexican monthly devoted to the Beetle, known
here as the Vocho, that features monthly centerfolds of the old Bug.
Total sales of the old Beetle, with its classic rounded-roof design, have topped 21.5
million worldwide since its introduction. But in Mexico, sales have dropped, from a
peak of 98,000 a decade ago to fewer than 5,000 this year, VW officials said. What's
more, the Mexico City government last year began offering financial incentives to
cabbies, who've long favored the Bug, to switch to four-door sedans.
A storied history
The bug had its beginnings in 1934, when Adolf Hitler commissioned engineer
Ferdinand Porsche, of sports car fame, to create a volks wagen, or people's car; he
said he wanted a fast - 60 mph - and dependable vehicle that would be affordable to
most families.
But World War II put the project on hold and mass production didn't start in earnest
until 1945, under the supervision of the occupying British forces.
The two-door subcompact with frog-eye headlights, which became a hit in Europe
and the Americas, was sold in the United States from 1949 to 1980.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the car's cheap cost - it was still selling for
less than $2,000 in 1971 - and humble-yet-mod appearance made it an ideal symbol
for U.S. youths rebelling against the establishment and consumerism.
In Mexico, where a new Beetle costs only $7,000, the car was instead an entree to
the middle class.
The earliest Beetles had split rear windows, wooden oil dipsticks and no gas gauges,
just gas-reserve levers to pull when the car started to sputter. VW changed those
features decades ago and added fuel injection and catalytic converters in the 1990s.
Horsepower gradually increased from 30 to 60. Otherwise, the rugged, classic Beetle
remains almost unchanged, down to the engine mounted in the rear (unlike that of
the new Beetle, which, like most cars, has a front-mounted engine) and cooled with
air, not water.
Page 18
The simple design made the Beetle a cinch to fix and maintain, prompting thousands
of young Americans to pick up wrenches and get oily under the rear hood. But
eventually it failed to meet increasingly stringent U.S. safety and emissions
standards. That, along with dropping sales, prompted VW to take the car off the U.S.
market in 1980, six years after it had done so in Germany.
For a few years, crafty entrepreneurs sold Bugs in the U.S. by buying them new,
disassembling them, shipping the pieces across the U.S. border and reassembling
them on the chassis of old Bugs, said Glenn Ring of Massapequa Park, N.Y., who
heads the Northeastern Volkswagen Association, one of hundreds of Beetle clubs
around the globe. Because vehicles are registered through the chassis, the cars were
deemed used and therefore grandfathered from the new safety standards, Ring said.
Eventually, however, authorities caught up with the ruse.
VW will continue making Beetle parts for a decade, and fans predict the auto will last
far into the century - but, increasingly, as a hobby car, like old Model Ts.
"Let's face it, we all want seat warmers and climate control," said Ring, 47, who has
clocked 462,000 miles on the red Beetle he bought new for $2,500 in 1974.
"I love my Beetle," Ring said. "But most of the time, I drive a Honda."
From the July 10, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/wheels/peak/jul03/153855.asp
Page 19
Hola! Old VW Beetle gets one last
run
Today was going to be the end for old-style Beetle.
Sort of. A few more special ones will be made.
July 10, 2003: 5:16 PM EDT
New York (CNN/Money) This was supposed to be it. Good-bye Beetle. Adios,
old buddy. But wait!
It had been announced that, on Thursday, Volkswagen's
plant in Mexico -- the only one in the world that still makes
the old-style Beetle -- was to finish one last retro edition of
the plucky bug before bringing down the curtain on nearly
70 years of history. The last old-style Beetle was destined
for Volkswagen's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.
"There has never been a car like it, but I don't think
production will go on beyond" the end of July, Christine
Kuhlmeyer, head of corporate communications at
Volkswagen in Mexico, had said.
Then, on Thursday afternoon, VW announced the "Ultima
Edicion." That's Spanish for "Final Edition." Basically, it's
the old Beetle, only fancier. The Mexican plant will make
just 3,000 of them. They will be available in the colors
Aquarius Blue and Harvest Moon beige. The "Ultima" will
also sport chrome trim and mirrors, body-colored rims and
whitewall tires. It will also have a CD player with four speakers.
The Ultima Edicion will cost 84,000 Mexican pesos -- about $8,000 -- compared to
68,000 pesos for the version that stopped production today, or about $6,500.
The beloved Bug
From Iceland to Malaysia, the original Beetle has attracted devoted fans like no other
car. A redesigned, sleeker version called the New Beetle was launched in 1998, but
at a price of $20,000 to $25,000 it is no longer a car for anyone.
For the 300 Mexicans who work on the Beetle production line at the plant in the
central Mexican state of Puebla, it will be like parting with a member of the family.
The factory will continue producing the New Beetle.
"It's a jewel for me. The little bug has given my family prosperity," said Armando
Pasillas, 60, who has worked for 37 years on the Beetle, which has been made in
Mexico since 1964.
Page 20
"I like seeing them in the street because I know they have all passed through my
hands," he said. "I've left part of my life here," he added.
In 1996, Mexico became the last country to produce the old Beetle and since 1998
the car has been sold only there. The Volkswagen plant in Puebla also is the only
one worldwide to produce the New Beetle, but they are mainly for export.
In Mexico City, the bug, or "vocho" as it is known locally, is a stalwart. Painted white
and green, it is the standard model used by taxi drivers to crawl through heavy traffic.
A decision by Mexico City's local government to give out future permits only to taxis
with four doors helped to seal the two-door bug's fate.
Dark beginnings
The car that became the VW Beetle originally was conceived by Hitler while he was
imprisoned in 1924 after an attempted coup. He conceived of an inexpensive car that
typical German families could buy. They could be driven along the sweeping
highways that Hitler wanted to build across Germany.
In 1933, through a combination of backroom politics and murder, Hitler seized power
in Germany. The following year, he gave the task of designing the car to Ferdinand
Porsche.
By 1938, designs were completed, a factory site selected and Hitler announced the
car's name: The KdF-Wagen. KdF stood for "Kraft durch Freude" or "strength through
joy". The name never became widely used by the German public, though, said
James Flammang, author of the book "Volkswagen: Beetles, Buses and Beyond." It
was more commonly called the "Volkswagen," or "people's car."
As it turned out, though, no ordinary Germans ever got a Volkswagen while the Nazis
were in power. By the outbreak of war in 1939, only about 630 cars had been built.
Almost all of them went to German military officers and to Hitler himself.
No Beetles, as they were later called, were built during the war. The car was used as
the basis of various military vehicles, though. Among them were the amphibious
Schwimmwagen, the jeep-like Kubelwagen and the Kommandeurwagen which
looked like a fat-tired Beetle 4x4.
The mechanical and electrical guts of some of
those Volkswagen-based military vehicles were
used to build the early Porsche 356 sports cars
-- ancestors of the modern Porsche 911 -- said
Chris Barber, author of the book "The Birth of the Beetle."
After World War II, under the jurisdiction of the British Military, production of the car,
now named the Volkswagen, was restarted. By 1949 the car was being exported and
two convertible versions, a 2-seater and a 4-seater, were available. Today, the 2seater, made by a company called Hebmueller, is a valuable collectors' car.
Page 21
The chubby, curvy little car took off, quickly
becoming a symbol of the German economic
miracle. As its popularity spread, the Beetle
Hebmeuller convertible
became the car of choice of the rebellious postwar generation in the United States and Europe, for whom it represented freedom
from the tight social restrictions of the time.
By 1955 1 million Volkswagens had been produced. A VW sedan -- the name
"Beetle" didn't become official until the late 1960s -- cost about $1,500, according to
the Website Nadaguides.com. Subtle changes appeared in the car over time,
including changes to the rear window and increases in engine size. VW introduced
the slightly longer Super Beetle -- boasting more in the front "trunk" -- in 1971.
The last hard-top old Beetle was sold in the U.S. in 1977, costing about $3,700. That
was a little more than the competing Ford Pinto. The last convertible was offered for
sale in 1980 for about $6,500.
By that time, demand had ebbed in the face of more technologically advanced small
cars. Also, the Beetle's air-cooled engine couldn't meet stringent U.S. air quality
regulations, Flammang said.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/07/10/pf/autos/bc.autos.volkswagen.beetle/
LAST OF THE OLD BEETLES
Jul 10 2003
IT'S the end of the road for one of the world's best-loved cars - the
original VW Beetle.
The last Love Bug will roll off the production line today in Puebla,
Mexico, where the round-shaped models have been made since
1967.
But for the next fortnight, the factory will produce a special limited
edition just like the very first model, with blue or cream paint,
white tyres and chrome hubcaps.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/content_objectid=13160840_method=full_siteid=89488_hea
dline=-LAST-OF-THE-OLD-BEETLES-name_page.html
Volkswagen Rolls Out 'Final' Bug
PUEBLA, Mexico, July 10, 2003
Page 22
(AP) Volkswagen on Thursday rolled out a final “retro” edition of its famed
Beetle, the cult classic the company plans to stop producing later this summer.
Journalists and company officials gathered under a cavernous white tent to bid
farewell to one of the most famous cars in history. Gleaming with chrome trim
and sporting a CD player, the new bug was driven in by factory worker
Armando Pasillas, who has worked at the plant since 1967 — three years after
it opened in Mexico.
A crowd of photographers take
photos of the Volkswagen sedan
'last edition', July 10, 2003, at the
Puebla plant, in Mexico. (Photo:
AP)
"You feel a little sad because it
is finally over. We knew this
day was coming for years, and
now it has arrived. All there is
to do now is move forward."
Armando Pasillas, Volkswagen Plant
Worker
“You feel a little sad because it is finally over,” he said. “We knew this day was
coming for years, and now it has arrived. All there is to do now is move
forward.”
The last bug is little-changed from its first prototype, pieced together in Nazi
Germany in 1934. Over the years, the car's windshield has gotten wider and
the frame became more compact and aerodynamic.
The plant in Puebla, 65 miles southeast of Mexico City, was the only place the
Beetle was still being produced. Production for the U.S. market stopped in
1977 because the car's rear, air-cooled engine didn't meet safety and
emissions standards. Brazil stopped making it in 1996.
The bug remained wildly popular in Mexico for decades, but it fell out of favor
recently as growing trade agreements allowed competitors to flood the Mexican
market with cheap, compact vehicles.
Then Mexico City officials ordered the capital's taxi drivers to stop using the
“vocho,” Mexico's Spanish nickname for the bug.
A woman walks past three
Volkswagen bugs, used as taxis, in
were a symbol of the city. They were also popular with kidnappers. Trapped
Mexico City, Thursday June 19,
behind the driver and with the assailant blocking the passenger door, victims
2003. (Photo: AP)
couldn't escape.
Still, the Beetle will remain a fond memory for most Mexicans.
Volkswagen plans to produce 3,000 final-edition Beetles, in sky blue and beige. The last Beetle will roll off the
assembly line on July 30.
Jens Neumann, president of Volkswagen's North American region, said 2,999 of the cars will be sold for $8,000
each, slightly more than the Beetle's current $7,500 price tag. The last car will be sent to the Beetle's birthplace in
Wolfsburg, Germany.
“Right now, we don't want to think of such a sad moment,” Neumann said. “We want to celebrate with all of you
the last great version of this sedan, the last edition.”
Volkswagen marked the occasion with souvenir piggy banks, ashtrays and candles shaped like the rounded car.
There was also a replica of Herbie the Love Bug, the star of the wacky 1970s movie of the same name, and a film
with footage showing the car as a favorite among hippies and returning World War II veterans alike.
Company officials said Pasillas and other employees who worked on the old Beetle will be reassigned to new jobs
at the Puebla plant, which also manufactures the Jetta and the futuristic new Beetle introduced several years ago
as a successor of the bug.
While the old Beetle may no longer be in Volkswagen showrooms, it is far from gone, said Reinhard Jung,
president of the executive committee of Volkswagen Mexico.
“The vocho is disappearing from production, but that doesn't mean it will disappear from the streets,” he said.
©MMIII, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/27/world/main560722.shtml
Posted on Fri, Jun. 27, 2003
Page 23
Mexicans mourn VW bug
By Mark Stevenson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY - Mexicans remained faithful to the old Volkswagen bug long
after other countries abandoned it, and the "vocho" repaid that loyalty by being
remarkably durable, adaptable and fixable.
But a flood of other small, inexpensive cars has lured away drivers and revealed an awful truth:
The bug's time has passed. So the world's last new bug - not to be confused with the new Beetle
- will roll off an assembly line in the city of Puebla this summer, and some Mexicans are already
in mourning.
The bug has been famous for its shortcomings ever since it went on the Mexican market in 1964.
But because it became "the people's car" to a greater extent than it ever did in Germany,
motorists just shrugged.
The public loved it for its simplicity and ruggedness, important factors in a country where rural
mechanics often come armed with only screwdrivers, pliers and a bit of wire.
"I don't think any car will ever have the impact, the significance that this car did," said Raul
Ramirez. "You can find spare parts practically at the corner grocery store, and you can fix them
anywhere."
Fixing them anywhere was in fact what Ramirez was doing. Idled at the side of a traffic circle on
Mexico City's main boulevard, he was watching oily smoke pour out of the engine compartment
of his white 1999 bug, a burn-mark crackling the paint.
The bug, with its air-cooled engine, has a tendency to run, well, hot. Mexico City taxi drivers still
routinely prop open the rear engine compartment with empty oil cans to help cool the motor.
Ramirez, meanwhile, was performing classic bug repair techniques: opening the engine
compartment to allow heat to escape, jiggling wires and checking to see if the fan belt had
broken.
"It must be the catalytic converter," Ramirez concluded. "That wouldn't have happened on the
original vocho." Catalytic converters were added in the 1990s in a desperate attempt to get the
bug to meet emissions standards.
Bug lovers also put up with the fact that the cars never had much of a trunk, any sort of reliable
heating system or a motor more powerful then 45 horsepower. 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 bug's design has had only minor changes since a prototype was developed under Adolf Hitler
in 1934. Production for the U.S. market stopped in 1977 because the car didn't meet safety and
emissions standards, and Brazil stopped making them in 1996.
But the demise of the bug was due more to other cars' improvements than to its own defects.
After more than 50 years, technology and free trade finally caught up.
In 1994, Mexico began signing a series of free trade and investment agreements, and a host of
cheap subcompacts invaded Mexican dealerships. At prices similar to a new bug's $7,500 tag,
they offered more safety, horsepower and room.
By early 2003, sales of the bug fell to about half their previous level.
"Even though the government subsidized it, when new competitors showed up, its sales
plunged," said Marcos Bureau, editor of Vochomania, a magazine for bug lovers.
The company isn't giving a precise date for the end of production, saying only that it will happen
sometime this summer, after it trots out a retro "special edition" in July.
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http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/6178611.htm
Puebla (México), (EFE).- La filial mexicana de la Empresa Automovilística Alemana
VolksWagen, anunció el lanzamiento de la "Última Edición" del Sedán, conocido
popularmente como "Escarabajo" o "Vocho" que despedirá a este modelo.
La Edición Especial del "Escarabajo" (conocido en Brasil como "Fusca") será de 3,000
unidades que costarán $84,000.00 (unos 8,000 dólares) cada una.
La Compañía planea vender 2,999 vehículos y el último de ellos saldrá de la Planta de
Volkswagen en Puebla (Centro de México) hacia la fábrica de Wolsburg (Alemania), sede
de la empresa, el próximo 30 de Julio para incorporarse a la colección de la firma.
Al acto de Volkswagen acudieron el Gobernador del Estado de Puebla, Melquíades
Morales, y la Subsecretaria de Industria y Comercio de la Secretaría de Economía, Rocío
Ruiz.
Además, estuvieron presentes el Presidente del Consejo Ejecutivo de Volkswagen en
México, Reinhard Jung, y el responsable de Volkswagen para Norteamérica, Jens
Neumann.
"Las verdaderas estrellas saben cuando es tiempo de retirarse y es bien sabido que el
público también. Esto también sucede con el Sedán", dijo Neumann.
"Una leyenda del consorcio Volkswagen se despide con una Última Edición, pero su
despedida no significa que desaparecerá de las calles y menos de las mexicanas", apuntó
Jung.
Recordó que desde que apareció en la década de 1950, se fabricaron 21.5 millones de
"Escarabajos" en todo el mundo y 1.7 millones de ellos se produjeron en México.
Los Directivos de Volkswagen explicaron que los últimos "Vochos" serán de colores azul
aguamarina y beige, e incluirán algunos detalles de los modelos más antiguos, como
molduras de cromo a los costados y en el cofre del motor, llantas de cara blanca y el
tablero y los instrumentos del mismo color del exterior.
Además, llevará la inscripción "Última Edición" en la guantera y el escudo de la matriz
alemana en la cubierta del motor del automóvil.
Desde que se instaló en México en 1964, Volkswagen ha invertido más de 3,600 millones
de dólares.
En la Fábrica de Puebla, la mayor de la firma en América, trabajan unas 10,000
personas. EFE mm/vsf/olc/eil
http://www.vochomania.com.mx/ya_es_oficial!!!.shtml
El Fin del VW Sedán
Page 25
Por DAVID LOJI/Grupo Reforma
México.-El
VW Sedán está a punto de finalizar su carrera a manos de fieros competidores como el
Chevy Pop, el Atos by Dodge y su propio hermano, el VW Pointer que fueron decimando sus
ventas gradualmente.
Parte del problema es que el VW Sedán tiene un precio de lista de 76 mil 427 pesos y su
motor de 1.6 lts solo tiene 44 hp.
En cambio, un Chevy Pop cuesta 81 mil 990 pesos pero tiene un motor de 1.6 lts con 95 hp
y se le puede equipar con aire acondicionado empotrado de manera opcional.
Su hermano, el VW Pointer City cuesta 75 mil pesos y tiene motor 1.8 lts con 90 hp. Un Atos
cuesta 69 mil 400 pesos y tiene un motor de 1.0 lt con 55 hp.
VW de México informa que oficialmente este auto se dejará de producir este año. Aunque el
vocero de VW de México no precisó la fecha en que el último Vochito se dejará de producir,
se estima que esto suceda en algún punto del verano.
De esta manera acaba una carrera estelar de casi 70 años y 21 millones 500 mil unidades,
lo que convierte al VW Sedán en uno de los modelos automotrices más queridos del mundo.
La última unidad producida en Europa fue en el año 1978 en la planta de Emden, en
Alemania,
Debido a feroces competidores más modernos y a que el Gobierno del DF estableció la
norma de que los nuevos taxis debían tener cuatro puertas las ventas del ?Vochito? fueron
cayendo gradualmente cada año.
En el año de 1999, se vendieron 36 mil 500 unidades, mientras que en el 2000 se vislumbró
un rayo de esperanza pues las ventas tuvieron un repunte, lográndose colocar en el
mercado 41 mil 300 unidades.
El año 2001 se vendieron 39 mil ?vochos? pero en el 2002 se empezó a dar una baja
importante en ventas, pues solo 24 mil 500 unidades se produjeron.
De enero a abril del 2003 se han producido 4300 unidades, lo que extrapolando a un año de
12 meses supondría un total de 17 mil 200 unidades.
Las ventas del auto ascienden a aproximadamente mil unidades mensuales y se reporta que
de enero a abril de este año las ventas han caído en más de un 50 por ciento con respecto a
ese mismo período del año pasado.
Actualmente se están produciendo solo 53 unidades mensuales en la planta de Puebla, único
Page 26
lugar en el mundo donde se produce este modelo.
En esta línea de producción laboran 350 personas que serán ubicadas a otras líneas de
ensamble al cesar la producción del ?Vocho?.
Para despedir este auto VW sacará a la venta una versión retro especial llamada ?Ultima
Edición? que entre sus características tiene un pintura de dos tonos: azul y beige clásico,
además de llantas cara blanca y tapas de los rines cromadas.
VW planea una ceremonia discreta para despedir este modelo y aunque no se ha
mencionado este tema, no se sorprenda si la última unidad se subaste o done a un museo.
http://www.vochomania.com.mx/enterate.shtml