The Volkswagen Beetle was introduced to Mexico in March 1954, Geocities.com History of Volkswagen in Mexico (in spanish) inside the exhibition "Alemania y su Industria" (Germany and its Industry). Four different Volkswagen vehicles were brought to Mexico through Veracruz City for the first time. Those vehicles were: two Sedans 113 in "Export" trim, a convertible, and a VW Bus in luxury trim. Officially, the Bug/Beetle was named "Type I sedan" and the Bus was named "Type II station wagon", though variants included single and double cab pickups.
At that time, the Mexican car market was mostly characterized by American makes and models with large sizes and large engines, which made a huge contrast with the new German entrant. An exhibition was held in the Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City; during this event, the vehicles were widely admired by the public. The Volkswagen Beetles displayed there were the model with the "oval window". Former Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas made a trip from Michoacán, just to see this peculiar vehicle. The local press immediately published the news into eight columns under the title "The People's Man" with the "People's Car".
First steps in Mexico
In response to doubts regarding the Beetle's long-term reliability, Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe, descendant of a friend of Ferdinand Porsche and a car enthusiast resident of Mexico City, decided to enter seven VW sedans in 1954 Carrera Panamericana competition. All of the Beetles finished the 3211 km race. While none finished in first place, the VWs all had stock 1200cc engines. Some newspapers reported rumors that the engines were Porsche instead of Volkswagen. An expert mechanic from Houston, Texas, was asked to inspect the cars and certified that they had original, unmodified VW engines. This led to the creation of the company Volkswagen Mexicana, S.A. In the same year, Hohenlohe founded the Distribuidora Volkswagen Central, S.A. de C.V. (Central Volkswagen Distributor), which opened its doors the following year as Mexico's first Volkswagen dealership.
In 1961, the first 250 cars were assembled through Automex (later Chrysler de México). In June of that year, a six-month contract was signed with Studebaker-Packard de México to assemble the Beetle from CKD kits (“complete knock down,” or separated pieces) imported from Germany. The following year, 1962, the first Volkswagen assembly plant was established in Xalostoc, State of Mexico, under the name PROMEXA (Promotora Mexicana de Automóviles - Mexican Automobile Promotor). Opening in June, the plant turned out 10 assembled units per day. In January 1964, Volkswagen de México, S.A. de C.V. was established. Production from the Xalostoc plant was unable to meet the growing demand, and in June 1965, a new plant opened in the suburbs of Puebla, Puebla on a [more commonly measured as 204 hectares or 505 acres]
Start of production in Puebla
On October 23, 1967, the first Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line at the Puebla plant. In mid-1968, a new 1500 cc engine was introduced, replacing the previous 1200 cc engine. A "VW 1500" badge or insignia appeared on the car's rear deck lid. On June 12, 1968, Mexico's 100,000th Beetle was produced.
For the 1971 model year, three design changes were made: new bumpers, an engine cover featuring two lateral groups of five louvers each and vertical headlights with their characteristic chromed molding, similar to the cover on the 1968 German Beetle. The Mexican Beetle retained the small windows seen in German models from 1958 to 1964, as well as the five-bolt wheels, similar to those on Brazilian Beetles at that time.
In 1971, the 200,000th Mexican Volkswagen Beetle was produced, and exports to Costa Rica and Europe began. That year, the Volkswagen Sedán was selected by the "Departamento del Distrito Federal" to serve as a public transportation vehicle, thus becoming the standard taxi in Mexico City. In 1972, the Volkswagen Beetle received the larger front windows used on German Beetles since 1965, though the rear window remained the smaller 1965–71 size. The larger rear window, introduced on German Beetles in 1972, did not appear on the Mexican Beetle until 1985. Enlarged tail lights, first used on 1971–72 German models (except VW 1200), were also added.
The 1973 model was highly popular, due to the previous year's improvements, as well as the new four-bolt 15-inch wheels (“small 4” as opposed to “wide 5”) with newly designed flat hubcaps, which replaced the original "bowl type" covers. The fuel filler neck was moved from inside the trunk to the right front quarter panel, just above the fender. Inside, a matte black padded dashboard was introduced, resulting in greater comfort and less eye fatigue. The wiper-washer control was also moved from a button on the dashboard to a lever on the right of the steering column. Later that year, additional improvements appeared, including a four-spoke black steering wheel.
The 1974 models brought further modifications. A 1600 cc engine producing 44 HP SAE (50 PS DIN) replaced the previous 1500. The front fenders were enlarged, new front turn signals (identical to the ones on American spec Beetles) were added, and larger round taillights with amber turn signals were introduced, one year after their 1973 appearance on German-made Beetles. The engine cover remained unchanged, except it no longer had an emblem. Inside, the front seats were redesigned, and the interior colour was changed from gray to black. Also, the front hood release lever was relocated inside the glovebox, as on 1969 and later German Beetles.
In 1975, the engine cover was again changed to include four groups of vents, with six on the two inner groups and seven on the two outer groups, as on 1972 and later German models (except VW 1200). In June, the 500,000th Mexican Beetle was produced. There were two limited editions: The Volkswagen Beetle Jeans and the Volkswagen Beetle Sport Jeans featuring special wheels and unique paint colors. Beginning that year, chrome hubcaps were reserved for Volkswagen Sedan equipped, unlike the base model which had no hubcaps.
In 1977, the most important modification was that the front turn signals were moved to the front bumper, as on 1975 and later European Beetles, though they remained atop the fenders on US- and Canada-spec cars until its end in 1979. With the introduction of the Caribe, some of the colours introduced the new model were available on the Mexican VW. In addition, vinyl upholstery was discontinued, leaving cloth–vinyl upholstery as the only option.
Export to Europe Beginning in 1978 the Volkswagen Beetle introduced air vents on the front trunk cover to bring fresh air to the interior. The air exited through a couple of rear vents behind the rear side windows. Hub caps disappeared from the equipment list in all models. With the cancellation of production in Germany, the Mexican Volkswagen Beetle started exporting to European markets, including West Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, and other countries. This exportation model was different from the Mexican market Beetle. Its engine was a 1200cc 34CV (33 hp). From the 1982 model on, the engine cover had no exterior vents. The different engine cover made it similar to German-produced VW 1200, as well as Mexican market Beetles sold before 1970. Also introduced were optional metallic paint colors: Silver Metallic, Copper Red Metallic, Cadmium Blue Metallic and Viper Green Metallic. These colors were also available on the Caribe and the new European market Volkswagen Scirocco, as a reminder of the late 1970s models.
In September 1980 the company produced the one millionth Mexican-made Volkswagen.
In 1981, the Volkswagen (the manufacturer's model name from this point forward) came equipped with front seats that integrated headrests as a required safety feature and new cloth upholsteries. The new seats had the same design as the Volkswagen Type 3 and bus vehicles previously seen in Europe and the United States in the late 60s. On May 15, 1981, the 20 millionth worldwide produced Volkswagen Beetle was manufactured by Volkswagen de México. A commemorative limited edition was sold with Silver metallic paint and the same lower side stripes seen on the Jetta. Around this time, the nickname Vocho came into popular usage in Mexico.
For the 1983 model year, the Volkswagen received new front seats with adjustable headrests, already seen in cars such the Caribe and the Atlantic. A newly added item was the control light for the brake circuits on the dashboard. 1983 also introduced a limited edition Aubergine Metallic paint scheme. This also featured its wheels painted to match the body color and seats upholstered in tweed Grey and Aubergine.
In 1984 was the marque's 30th anniversary in Mexico, for this reason, three commemorative limited editions were launched. The first one was a Volkswagen painted in Alpine White with the side lower stripes already seen in the 20 millionth edition, its upholstery was red velour with sides and door panels in black vinyl.
Another limited edition available only in West-Germany was painted in velvet-red (German: Samtrot) with stripes and flower-decor on the sides. This model also sported the same red velour upholstery like the Mexican special edition. The third one, a yellow painted Volkswagen, with yellow velour upholstery. The sides and door panels were white; however, elements such as the dashboard, the armrests, the rear ashtray and the interior rubber mat keep its typical black color.
In 1985, exportations to Europe ended, and a grey metallic special edition called the Jubilée Käfer (50 Jahre Käfer = 50 years Beetle in German) was launched. It had newly designed steel wheels (as seen in some convertible models in the late 70s), and its engine was the 1200cc 34CV (33 hp) DIN. This edition was only available in the European markets where the Mexican Beetle was sold. At this time (model year 1986), the Mexican Volkswagen receives the larger rear window from 1972 and later German Beetles, and the bulged rear apron of the 1975 and later German Beetles.
In mid-1986, a new Limited Edition was launched in Mexico: The Volkswagen Europa Edition 1. This was the first Volkswagen available in Mexico in many years painted in black; besides this special painting, this new Limited Edition had chrome hub caps (the norm in the 80's were matt finished hub caps), inside it had seats upholstered in a honeycomb black and white design with Recaro headrests, plus an AM/FM stereo cassette player radio (usually the only audio equipment available on Mexican Beetles were the eternal Sapphire XI AM monoaural radio) with two speakers and a basket below the dashboard, as well as side and rear special badges. This year, the Volkswagen received a "double diagonal" braking system, already used in all the Beetle for export to Europe, this system was characterized by connecting the right front brake, with the rear left brake, and vice versa. In addition, the Volkswagen received an intermittent modality in its wiper/washer system. However, the metallic colors were no longer available.
In 1987 the company introduced a new limited-edition model: The Volkswagen Europa Edition 2. The differences from the 1986 edition 1 were: its color was Grey Metallic, its front seats had normal headrests, though, they were now upholstered in grey tweed cloth with red and blue thin stripes. Additionally the basket below the dashboard was no longer available, but the Edition 2 gained tinted windows. This was the first Mexican Beetle available with such equipment; however, the auto kept the chrome hub caps and its AM/FM stereo cassette radio.
Price reduction and anti-pollution measures