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It's the end of an era -- again.
Volkswagen
Update, July 10: The final Volkswagen Beetle, a coupe clad in Denim Blue paint, rolled off the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, today. Before the third-generation car departed from this mortal coil, though, we were given the chance to head down yonder Mexico way and assist in the assembly of some of VW's final Beetles. Head south by one paragraph to read our account of that experience.
I step into a production-line-adjacent conference room at the Volkswagen Beetle factory in Puebla, Mexico. The air inside is tinged with the aroma of what seems to be a nearby bathroom leaking its wretchedness into the air conditioning vents. A presentation slide entitled "How will be work" details the day's schedule upon a projection screen at the other end of the room.
I'm ushered around a table along with a handful of US and Canadian media colleagues. We're given a schedule rundown and safety briefing that lasts a mere 15 minutes, and then we're directed toward the production floor to help build a home-stretch batch of Beetles. In just a few weeks' time, VW's Bug will be swatted.
This factory-floor fast-tracking runs in stark contrast to my just two months ago. With , I was put through a half-day's training to learn how to perform just one task on the line. Today with the Beetle, I'll be installing front bumper and radiator covers, mounting the right-rear wheel, bolting in the rear suspension and placing the front emblem.
I don't mind the opportunity to be involved in more of the Beetle's production process, of course. We're talking about one of history's most recognized and influential machines. Since the Beetle's inception in 1938, more than 23 million bugs have crawled out of VW factories the world over, from Germany to Nigeria, Indonesia to Ireland and presently, Mexico. Getting a chance to build some of the final examples of the "People's Car" is one of those stories I'll likely tell my grandchildren.
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Volkswagen Beetles rising through eight decades.
Manuel Carrillo III/Roadshow
Slug bug
My first task is to install the front bumper cover on a Stonewashed Blue Beetle headed to a Chinese customer. Bumper assembly would have been a rather simple process had I been given a crack at more than one car. That's not in the cards, though, so I go about my duties like a toddler navigating along the Brooklyn Bridge's railing.
Thankfully, I've got a supervision safety net of pros standing around me. For these men and women who work the line every day, proper component mounting is a matter of muscle memory. Click together a few electrical connectors, bang on the body panels just right so they snap into place () and six screws later, the little Beetle's cute face is complete.
That's not the end of my job at this station, however. I still have to install a black plastic panel that sits under the hood ahead of the radiator, which is simply a matter of lining up the component and banging it in. Easier said than done, I soon realize. My infantile banging proves futile, so a line worker helps me by realigning the piece and then popping it into place as effortlessly as your most recent breath. Once that's complete, the car continues down the line, never for me to see it again.
The latter three assembly tasks prove smoother with other Beetles. My toddler fumbling isn't disruptive enough to make a mess of mounting the right-rear wheel. Nor is installing the rear suspension, which is simply a matter of torquing four bolts on each side and letting the computer validate my worth by lighting up with green OKs. Installing the front VW emblem is actually an automated process, but I get to place one on a Bug's nose anyway, because why let a good photo op go to waste?
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VW Beetles get an inspection under the lights before heading out the factory doors and onto their test drives.
Manuel Carrillo III/Roadshow
By the numbers
Surprisingly, robots perform just 48% of the Beetle's assembly. The other 52% is by hand. Today's Beetle, which has slid to become VW's least popular vehicle in the US, shares its assembly line with Volkswagen of America's best-seller: the compact crossover SUV. This popularity chasm is evident as I stretch my eyes down the production line. About one in every 10 vehicles is a Beetle, and there are moments walking along the floor where nothing but Tiguans flood my sockets.
Over the course of three shifts within a 24-hour production day (Monday to Friday and sometimes two shifts on Saturday), 937 new vehicles emerge off the line, 170 to 180 of which are Beetles. In addition, every unit is test-driven. Fun fact: According to surveys distributed by the plant's human resources department, the test drivers are the factory's happiest employees.
Come on, get happy
After getting to play on the production line, VW lets me briefly test-drive some Beetles outside the factory. I'm surprised at how heavy the (1998-2011) steering is, and how it feels sportier to drive than the , which is a comparative snooze fest. I'm most excited to drive the 2003 Beetle Ultima Edicion (Final Edition), the last of the original air-cooled Beetles. The Ultima Edicion is much quieter than any classic Beetle I've heretofore experienced. Modern seating makes it categorically comfortable, too, but from there, its modernity slopes into the abyss.
The Ultima Edicion has no power steering, but that's fine, as there's little weight over its nose. The car's clutch, brake and gas pedals, however, delineate evolution in reverse. The clutch is as light as any economy car's third pedal from 2019. The brake pedal trails the clutch's contemporary ease, but scrubbing speed isn't terrifying: Unlike with earlier Beetles, you needn't stomp halfway to the floor before barely stopping in time. Even still, the pedal's modulation is precision's distant cousin. Traveling farther back in time, the throttle is straight out of World War II, somehow feeling heavier and clumsier than Beetles I've driven from the 1950s, '60s and '70s.
The Ultima Edicion proves more ponderous than I'd expected, but it's a heartening reminder of an automotive icon whose production has lasted longer than the average human lifespan.
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The 2003 Volkswagen Beetle Ultima Edicion is what I consider to be the ultimate expression of the original, air-cooled Bug.
Manuel Carrillo III/Roadshow
Is this really goodbye?
The Beetle's demise is the lamentable result of how the world has moved away from the spunky and toward the practical. In its '60s heyday, the original Beetle checked a slew of boxes for the pragmatic play demo but imaginative American consumer. Today, crossover speak to buyers padlocked by bottom-line idealism. The current Beetle lacks the cargo space, interior volume and ride height that today's consumer demands. Consequently, the Beetle is now an unsustainably sluggish-selling lifestyle play. VW delivered roughly 14,000 Beetles in the US last year, . That's a far cry from 423,000 US sales in 1968, .
And so, as America and the rest of the world have moved beyond Beetle Mania, so, too, must the Bug's factory in Puebla. The Beetle's discontinuation will free up space to build more of VW's popular Tiguan.
While Volkswagen currently has no plans to resurrect the Beetle after manufacturing ends in mid-July, I'm willing to bet money the Bug will return sometime next decade. VW's new, incredibly limber can spawn a litter of vehicles as diverse as the and the . It seemingly wouldn't take much of a business case or a ton of development money for VW to engineer an electric Beetle off that flexible architecture.
As a result, assembling some of the last Beetles really feels like "See ya later," as opposed to a final goodbye. At least, that's what I hope.
Originally published June 24.
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