July 31, 2003

Last Beetle leaves assembly line in Mexico

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Puebla, Mexico - Yesterday, the last Beetle left the production line at Volkswagen de México in Puebla. The Mexican workforce gave a festive farewell for the 21,529,464th Beetle with flowers and mariachi music. The best-selling model will now make a last journey over the Atlantic to Wolfsburg where it will have a place of honour in the Automuseum.

At 9:05 am Mexican time the Beetle production line was stopped. This signalled the end to almost 68 years of a unique success story in global automobile history. In recent years Mexico has been the only country in which the legendary Beetle, known in Mexico as the "Vocho", was still in production. The Beetle made Volkswagen world famous and was seen as a symbol of Germany's economic upturn.

In a short address, Reinhardt Jung, Chairman of the Volkswagen de México Board of Management, thanked the Mexican staff "who had not only worked in the production of a car, but also in the creation of a legend. A legend that would endure in the hearts and minds of all people for whom the Beetle had been a companion on their journeys".

The last Beetle is an Aquarius blue "Última Edición" and has a 1.6 litre four cylinder engine. It has chrome strips and chrome exterior parts, such as bumpers, hubcaps, and mirrors. Colour-coded wheels, the "Última Edición" emblem on the glove compartment lid, and the Wolfsburg emblem above the engine compartment lid round off the look.

The limited-edition "Última Edición", of which only 3,000 have been built, had been very well received by customers and was practically sold out, said Jung. Only the last Beetle was not for sale and would be taking up residence in the Automuseum in Wolfsburg.

The Beetle has been produced in more than 20 countries worldwide. In Germany alone, where production ceased in 1978, more than 16.2 million Beetles were built. In Mexico, where production of the "Vocho" had continued uninterrupted for 39 years, almost 1.7 million have left the factory.

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