The Volkswagen factory in Puebla, Mexico is the sole world producer of the New Beetle.

Until July 2003, the plant was also the last world producer of the Original Beetle, known in Mexico as the Sedan (or, more affectionately, the Vochito), which was for many years the country’s modal car. I took this picture walking around in downtown Mexico City in May 2003.

The New Beetle and the Jetta are produced in the Puebla plant using state-of-the-art technology. The picture is of Kuka robots on the Jetta welding line, behind glass. Humans (skilled maintenance workers or engineers) enter the area only to install, program or repair the robots.

The Original Beetle was produced in Puebla using the same technology that had been in use in the plant since the mid-1960s, which was used in Germany in the 1950s. Much of the work was done by hand.

Figure IV from paper. The peso devaluation of late 1994 led to a sharp increase in the export share of the Puebla plant, as well as the share of the high quality varieties (Jetta, Golf, New Beetle) in total production, generating an upgrading of the average quality of car produced in the plant, the average level of technological sophistication, and the average skill of workers engaged in production.