New VW Beetle production begins
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17th July, 2011
Volkswagen began production of the new Beetle in Puebla, Mexico,
on Friday 15th July 2011. On this occasion Dr. Guido Westerwelle, the Federal Foreign Minister,
Felipe Calderón, the Mexican President, and Hubert Waltl, Board Member for
Production and Logistics at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, visited the
Volkswagen plant in Mexico.
“The Beetle is a strong symbol of our brand. It combines the emotional heritage of the original Beetle with
the future of Volkswagen,” Hubert Waltl (Board Member for Production and Logistics at the Volkswagen
Passenger Cars brand) said in Puebla. “At the same time, the new Beetle and the engine plant we are building
in Silao represent the great confidence we place in Mexico as a manufacturing location. As one of the main
manufacturers of compact class vehicles, Volkswagen de México is a key building block in our growth strategy for
North America.”
The Beetle wrote a success story in the USA in particular: That is where the mobility icon from Wolfsburg was
sold almost five million times between 1949 and 1981. The New Beetle took up the thread of this Beetle Mania,
with a total of 1.15 million units built in Puebla selling between 1997 and 2010. The latest Beetle celebrated
its world premiere in April this year and will be in dealers' showrooms in Germany later this year.
The Puebla plant is the largest automotive factory in Mexico and one of the Volkswagen Group’s biggest vehicle
manufacturing plants. It supplies North and South America as well as Europe with the Jetta. The Beetle and Golf
wagon are built exclusively by Volkswagen de México for world markets. In 2010, the factory produced some 435,000
vehicles. Puebla also manufactures engines for the American continent and with its workforce of over 15,000 is
one of Mexican industry’s largest employers.
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About Volkswagen de México
Area: 3,000,000 m2
Employees (2010): 15,947
Production: Volkswagen Beetle, Jetta, Golf wagon, engines
Production (2010): 435,341 vehicles; 253,853 engines
Plant
Volkswagen de México’s plant and headquarters are located in Puebla, the capital of the federal state of the
same name, 120 km southeast of Mexico City. The plant occupies an extension of 3,000,000 m2 with about 480,000
m2 of building space. In January 2011, the cornerstone was laid for a new engine plant in Silao,
central-mexican state of Guanajuato.
Production
The facility of Volkswagen in Puebla is the biggest automobile factory in Mexico. All the processes needed for
the complete car production, including the machining and assembly of engine and axle parts and the stamping of
car body parts take place here. In 2010, 435,341 vehicles were produced. About 80% of this volume was exported.
Volkswagen de México produces four different models, exclusively for the worldwide market. In 1997, the Beetle in
its sedan and convertible versions was the first car which was produced for the global market. The fourth
generation of the Jetta for the Latin American markets is produced in Puebla as well. Puebla also produces
engines for self-supply and delivery to all Volkswagen automobile factories in America. In 2010, 253,853 engines
were produced.
Workforce
Volkswagen de Mexico is one of the biggest employers in the Mexican industry; currently 15,290 persons are on
the payroll.
Training
In order to develop the abilities of its employees, Volkswagen has a special school for training and further
education (Volkswagen Institute). As a part of this Institute, Volkswagen has a Language School which provides
its services; not only for the Volkswagen employees, but also for external clients trough its different offices
in the city. The core part of the educational programme is the technical education through the German
dual-system. Technicians for the production are trained here during 3 years. This educational offer is also
available for other companies that are interested, among them primarily suppliers.
Management
Executive Director for Volkswagen de Mexiko is Mr. Andreas Hinrichs. He studied mechanical engineering and
started his career at Volkswagen Group in 1986. In 1989, Andreas Hinrichs took office in the department of
production planning at SEAT Barcelona. From 1994 to 2001, he worked in different areas of the production planning
in Emden, before he returned to Volkswagen Autoeuropa as General Manufacturing Manager. In April 2011 Alfons
Dintner was appointed as Member of the Board of Management in charge of Production and Logistic areas. Before he
was the general manager of the Audi plant in Brusseles (Belgium).
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The Purchasing area is responsibility of Rüdiger Koch, since 2008. He is also in charge of Purchasing in North
America Region. Since 1st June 2009 are also members of the Board, Ralf Berckhan for the Sales Area and Björn
Ehlbeck for Finance and Organisation. Both of them used to have important positions in Volkswagen de México.
Other members of the top management are Dieter Neuhaeusser, Human Resources Vice- President and Thomas Karig,
Vice President for Corporate Relations and Strategy.
History
The history of Volkswagen in Mexico starts in 1954 with the first imported classic Beetle. The company
Volkswagen de México was founded in 1964 as a 100% subsidiary of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. The first Beetle
left the assembly line in Puebla on 23rd March, 1967. Until the end of 2008, the plant has built and delivered
7.5 million Volkswagen cars. On 31st July, 2003, the world’s last classic Beetle was produced in Mexico. A
limited edition of 3,000 special models was launched as the worthy farewell for this epoch-making car. In four
decades, 1,691,542 of these cars were produced in Mexico, contributing to a total of 21,529,464 "beetles" sold
worldwide since 1946.
Suppliers
The economical impact of Volkswagen for the Puebla and Tlaxcala states lies not only on the plant itself but
also on the presence of more than 50 auto parts suppliers in a 50 km radius. Twenty of the most important
suppliers are located in industrial parks next to the plant, facilitating just-in-time delivery to the assembly
line.
The Volkswagen Group in Mexico
In the Mexican market, Volkswagen de Mexico represents not only the Volkswagen Brand, but also SEAT, Audi,
Bentley and Porsche. Additionally, heavy trucks up to 23 tons are assembled in Mexico from part kits from Brazil.
The Volkswagen brand is present all over the country with 169 dealerships. In addition, SEAT has 51, Audi 26,
Porsche 7 and Bentley 1 sales and service facilities.
Global release
The new Volkswagen Beetle will be released in Europe and North America in the coming months. An Australian
release is anticipated in the latter part of Q1 or early Q2 2012.
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