Volkswagen may build next Golf in Mexico

[Time for a GTI]

My MKV was made in Germany, and its a steaming pile.
I welcome our new Mexican Overlords.

At the same time, though, I've had 0 issues with the two VWs I've had come from Germany and a metric sh!t ton of issues with the 1 I've had come from Mexico. All purchased brand new.

[seadoo2006]

At the same time, though, I've had 0 issues with the two VWs I've had come from Germany and a metric sh!t ton of issues with the 1 I've had come from Mexico. All purchased brand new.

I think that's just more proof that VWs are nearly all steaming piles of horse manure, but YMMV.

[Lwize]

I think that's just more proof that VWs are nearly all steaming piles of horse manure, but YMMV.

Some consistency would be nice.

[windsorblue]

I've owned Mexican and Brazilian made Golfs... but never a Golf made in Germany (though I had a German Rabbit and a German Jetta). So, what difference does it make?

I've had a few very good cars from the Puebla plant(3 Golfs) so I'm fine with the car being built there. My greatest concern is for the TDI given the torsion beam on the jetta. The future of the sportwagen in the American market is also a bit worrying given the overall direction of the company and product line up.

[1995Camry]

From what I've seen Mexico isn't too bad for assembeling cars. For example the Chevy avalanche which is assembled purely in mexico used to be rated higher than any other of the GM trucks as far as build quality and reliability. The fusion also assembled in Mexico is rated very high as far as build quality and reliability too. So I think VW has more problems than where their cars are assembled.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

[Ultraflux3]

All the Corrado hate. My Corrado was apparently assembled by Karmann, but the front inner fender sheet metal is stamped "hecho en mexico"

[patrikman]

I welcome this news as good news. Why you ask?

Patrikman's right brain: sweet...they could build Sciroccos here and .....like sell them here....and stuff.
Patrikman's left brain: really? you would never pay that much for a wrong wheel drive coupe even if it does look that good.

All of them were good cars.

Lies.

My Corrado was apparently assembled by Karmann, but the front inner fender sheet metal is stamped "hecho en mexico"

I don't even own a Corrado and I know better to say something like that.

[Live-Wire]

>"... marking the first time the Golf is built outside of Germany. "

Uhh, pretty darn sure that my '95 GTI VR6 was Hecho en Mexico.

Yah, my 91 Golf was built in Mexico, and my dad's 03' Golf was built in Brazil... I don't get it.

Don't see the problem either. The Mexico plant is modern and closer to US/Canada. Building a car with lower margins at a plant in Germany seems foolish. I wonder if they mean all Golf's will be built in Mexico? Or the first time German Golf will be sources from a place other than Germany.

Article doesn't make a lot of sense.

My friend had a Mk3 Golf that was made in Mexico. STUPID PERSON THAT WROTE THE ARTICLE!!!!!


With the key in the ignition and the door open, it would play "La Cucaracha" (seriously).

Not La Cucaracha. It's just three tones over and over again. La Cucaracha is five notes, three tones.

[tjl]

Hey. from past experience those iPhones are quality products, on the other hand, Mexico assembled MKAY4's not so much.

The a4 cars were unreliable because of parts not designed for sufficient reliability and durability (window regulator clips, mass airflow sensors, brake lamp switches, hazard switches, coolant temperature sensors, glow plugs, coil packs, door latches, etc.), not because the parts were improperly assembled. Assembly quality for the a4 cars made in Mexico, Germany, and Brazil was excellent, but that did not prevent the poorly designed aforementioned parts from failing.

[J-Tim]

The a4 cars were unreliable because of parts not designed for sufficient reliability and durability (window regulator clips, mass airflow sensors, brake lamp switches, hazard switches, coolant temperature sensors, glow plugs, coil packs, door latches, etc.), not because the parts were improperly assembled. Assembly quality for the a4 cars made in Mexico, Germany, and Brazil was excellent, but that did not prevent the poorly designed aforementioned parts from failing.

Yup, that didn't have much to do with Volskwagen, as same parts used in BMW, Volvo, Opel and Mercedes around that time failed just as often.

[patrikman]

The a4 cars were unreliable because of parts not designed for sufficient reliability and durability (window regulator clips, mass airflow sensors, brake lamp switches, hazard switches, coolant temperature sensors, glow plugs, coil packs, door latches, etc.), not because the parts were improperly assembled. Assembly quality for the a4 cars made in Mexico, Germany, and Brazil was excellent, but that did not prevent the poorly designed aforementioned parts from failing.

So umm...yeah. Make some lemonade.

[tjl]

Yup, that didn't have much to do with Volskwagen, as same parts used in BMW, Volvo, Opel and Mercedes around that time failed just as often.

What are you trying to say?

The unreliable parts do have plenty to do with VW, since they were designed to VW's specs (regardless of whether similar parts failed in other cars). But it was the part unreliability, not the assembly quality in Mexico, Germany, or Brazil, that caused the unreliability.

[feels_road]

I didn't think the US consumed enough Golfs to justify local production.

No, but as was mentioned above, they then can sell the car also in Mexico and in Brazil (and in Canada, the Caribbean, and what not) - jointly a sizable market. And selling them in low-wage countries is possible because assembly cost for the MQB is down, and eventually the Beetle, Jetta, and JSW will also be fully on the MQB - one platform for one plant, with lots of parts sharing between four cars.

No, but you could make them cheaply, sell them profitably in the US, and then export the rest to the EU and make a killing.

Not going to happen if the union in Wolfsburg and Zwickau have anything to say about that. And they do.

[mx5er]

If being built in Mexico means a cheaper sticker price then I'm all for it. Also they better not dumb it down like the Jetta.

VW could push the dumbed down Jetta to the masses, let them have it. But leave the Golf alone.

[NoDubJustYet]

My mk4 golf TDI was made in Mexico, and my mkv Wolfsburg Jetta was made in Mexico, and my fox was made in Brazil. No big deal really. The only VW I've owned that was made in Germany was my Corrado, and guess which one was the least reliable

I don't think the MkIV Golf was ever built in Mexico? I thought the early ones were built in Germany and the later ones were from Brazil?




I honestly don't think it matters where the car was assembled... All the problems we've ever had with our VWs (2 Mexican, 2 Pennsylvanian, 5 German and 1 Slovakian) have dealt with ****ty parts, not the assembly.

Window regulators, lower control arms, coil packs, faulty AC compressors, etc. don't care what country they were bolted onto the car in...

[classicjetta]

Needed a couple things repaired on my Jetta over the years, but nothing that screamed poor assembly quality, just bad parts spec. Who uses a brittle thin plastic tube for the windshield washers anyway?

[VW1.8Tsunami]

My mk4 golf TDI was made in Mexico, and my mkv Wolfsburg Jetta was made in Mexico, and my fox was made in Brazil. No big deal really. The only VW I've owned that was made in Germany was my Corrado, and guess which one was the least reliable

I had a similar experience. My only vw from germany (b6 passat) was the worst of them all.

[MCTB]

My MKV was made in Germany, and its a steaming pile.
I welcome our new Mexican Overlords.

Exactly. Where its built doesnt change whether or not its going to work any better. My Mexican MKV was better than my friends German MKV.


Another case of who gives a damn. Oh, and werent Golfs made in America in the 80s?

[uncleho]

Honestly... it boils down to people. And mainly leadership, because leadership guides, manages, decides the core values/goals/cultures... be it a relationship with a supplier or the development process or the MFG & ASM process.

And with that in mind... the site of MFR can have an impact when compared to another site, BUT... but only because of HOW the leadership decides to commonize OR differentiate the sites... willingly or unwillingly. While national cultures may have some differentiation... in my experience... workers in general want to do a good job and saboteurs are a great minority/fraction. If a specific MFG/ASM site does have a statistically problematic quality history... it can be root caused to the leadership and what they chose to do different than say a place that has a better history.

Those that hold the reigns guide the results for the most part. And this is common sense as most would probably agree.

These threads often only focus around the superficial issues/causes and not the underlying ones. That's why they can become so heated. It's like politics. Most politicians (and media, because their focus is ad revenue) focus the attention on what is right in front of the voter in order to drive emotion, because IMHO... emotion often times trump intellect in voter decision making.

[uncleho]

VW's decision (or any other profit-oriented company for that matter) is obviously financial... as it should be for them.

Given we believe people are the same the world over (in terms of having pride in their work and just wanting to do somethng well in order to make a good living), if VW (or any other) cannot mimic a good operation across the world... then clearly they are not doing it right.

Not doing it right can be everything from selecting bad leaders to head new facility to trying to penny-pinch in an emerging market, because they want to squeeze that market's perceived advantages of every once of profit possible... all the while ignoring how that can drive the workforce to not be able to achieve what their 'proven' processes are capable of.

[whitekryptonite]

I bought my R32 because it was built in Germany. If I wanted to buy a car built in Mexico, I'll go buy a Ford.

[uncleho]

I bought my R32 because it was built in Germany. If I wanted to buy a car built in Mexico, I'll go buy a Ford that was made in Mexico and not Germany or USA or Brazil or China.

FIFY

[seadoo2006]

I bought my R32 because it was built in Germany. If I wanted to buy a car built in Mexico, I'll go buy a Ford.

... EuroTrash exceptionalism at it's very best

[NoDubJustYet]

I bought my R32 because it was built in Germany. If I wanted to buy a car built in Mexico, I'll go buy a Ford.

I thought the 4motion equipped Golf platform cars were built in Slovakia??

[seadoo2006]

I thought the 4motion equipped Golf platform cars were built in Slovakia??

Parts were, yes ... I think that numbnut is just going off of his WVW VIN-coding, in which case my Civic is 100% US made, baby! 1HG FTW!

[NoDubJustYet]

Parts were, yes ... I think that numbnut is just going off of his WVW VIN-coding, in which case my Civic is 100% US made, baby! 1HG FTW!

Quick research:

MkIV R32= D in 11th position - Bratislava, Slovakia
MkV R32= W in 11th position - Wolfsburg, Germany


I hope he has a MkV...

[MCTB]

I bought my R32 because it was built in Germany. If I wanted to buy a car built in Mexico, I'll go buy a Ford.

Bwahahahaha, Connecticut...


If youre looking at Golfs, then youre talking Focus and that is made in Indiana....

[GruuvenNorth]

Meanwhile, everyone is typing on their Chinese keybords using their Chinese mice and checking messages on their chinese made phones to find out what's for dinner which is being cooked with chinese appliances that are being put on chinese plates using chinese made utensiles being held up by chinese made tables and chairs and in the background, music is playing from a chinese made stereo and then turning it off using a chinese made remote then walking to the washroom and brushing their teeth with a chinese made toothbrush and snuggling in bed in their chinese made comforters.

...and then there are rich people.

[whitekryptonite]

... EuroTrash exceptionalism at it's very best

Commi trash actually. I'm Russian.

I thought the 4motion equipped Golf platform cars were built in Slovakia??

Parts were, yes ... I think that numbnut is just going off of his WVW VIN-coding, in which case my Civic is 100% US made, baby! 1HG FTW!

Quick research:

MkIV R32= D in 11th position - Bratislava, Slovakia
MkV R32= W in 11th position - Wolfsburg, Germany

I hope he has a MkV...

Bwahahahaha, Connecticut...


If youre looking at Golfs, then youre talking Focus and that is made in Indiana....

Yes I have an MKV R32. Sad that it is a DSG, but nonetheless a great car.( Which was fully built in Germany)

What's wrong with Connecticut?

[Turbio!]

At the same time, though, I've had 0 issues with the two VWs I've had come from Germany and a metric sh!t ton of issues with the 1 I've had come from Mexico. All purchased brand new.

That tells me that the mothership needs to get its **** together regarding supplier control, process quality, and component QC, not that the plant that takes the parts suppliers build and assembles them into a car.

[WhistlerYOW]

Meanwhile, everyone is typing on their Chinese keybords using their Chinese mice and checking messages on their chinese made phones to find out what's for dinner which is being cooked with chinese appliances that are being put on chinese plates using chinese made utensiles being held up by chinese made tables and chairs and in the background, music is playing from a chinese made stereo and then turning it off using a chinese made remote then walking to the washroom and brushing their teeth with a chinese made toothbrush and snuggling in bed in their chinese made comforters.

...and then there are rich people.

Except if my phone mouse or computer fails after a few years (which it usually does if I am lucky) I just throw them in the garbage and get a new one.

A bit more of an issue on a a vehicle that costs 1000x more.

[GruuvenNorth]

Except if my phone mouse or computer fails after a few years (which it usually does if I am lucky) I just throw them in the garbage and get a new one.

A bit more of an issue on a a vehicle that costs 1000x more.

Never seemed to have been an issue when people were spending thousands on the garbage that used to come out of Korea...

Mexico and Brasil have been building VW's for over 20 years. What difference does it make that a mexican put it together? I'm sure the Mexican worker will do just as good a job.

[NoDubJustYet]

I'm sure the Mexican worker will do just as good a job.

I fail to understand how a blue collar "German" working in Wolfsburg is any different than a Mexican working in Puebla?

Hell, the German in Wolfsburg is probably Polish, Turkish, or Portugese... You know, the migrant workers of Europe.

[Neezy13]

My Mk4 GTI from Brazil has had no reliability issues. I've had exactly one broken pcv hose and no other issues.

Quality control systems for the production lines should be very similar from plant to plant for the same vehicle. So the controls in Germany should be mirrored in Mexico, Brazil, etc. Most Mk4 issues do come from supplier parts and not from build quality issues. Working as a Quality Engineer, a large part of the PPAP process is confirming your controls and validating your production against the manufacturer's engineering standards. Assuming VW has done its due diligence and verified everything at the plant in Mexico, the cars rolling out of there should be no different than the ones coming from Germany.

[ajd187]

I believe all Jettas globally are assembled in Puebla? The listings I've seen show that it's made in Puebla, China, and India (as a Skoda). But I also read something else that said it was assembled as a CKD (completely knockdown kit) in everywhere but Puebla. If that's the case they are already building cars in Mexico and sending them to Europe.

Also, I think the Jetta Sportwagen/Golf Wagon are made exclusively in Puebla.