Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visits Volkswagen

• Talks about the importance of Mexico as a production and sales location for the Volkswagen Group
• Tour of vehicle production and the Autostadt in Wolfsburg

The Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, visited the Volkswagen Group headquarters in Wolfsburg during his trip to Germany. Peña Nieto met for talks with Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and representatives from the Group and its brands. The talks focused in particular on the importance of Mexico as a production and sales location for the Volkswagen Group. The program also included a tour of production at the Wolfsburg plant and a visit to the Autostadt.

Mexican employees currently working at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg welcomed the President and his delegation on their arrival at Group headquarters. The guests visited the vehicle exhibition in the brand tower, where President Peña Nieto signed the Volkswagen visitors’ book. Following the discussions with representatives from the Group and its brands, the delegation toured production at the Wolfsburg plant and met with further employees from Mexico. The visit ended with a guided tour of the Autostadt, where the President saw the last Beetle produced in Mexico on show in the ZeitHaus museum. 

Hans Dieter Pötsch said: “Mexico and Volkswagen are strong partners. As one of our Group’s strongest production locations, Mexico plays a very special role. Volkswagen AG is convinced that Mexico has great potential as an industrial location. The Mexican President’s visit provides a welcome opportunity to recognize our long-term engagement in Mexico"

The Mexican President Peña Nieto underscored: “Volkswagen and Mexico have been strategic partners for more than five decades [...]. We have working together not only in the automobile sector but also in scientific, environmental, and educational projects as well as in the training of future automobile engineers. This important company is and will continue to be a vital part of modern Mexico.”

Historic success story
Volkswagen and Mexico have a long tradition. The Wolfsburg-based company has had a presence in Mexico for over 50 years. The historic success story began in 1954 with the first exports to Mexico. The car manufacturer then founded an import, production and sales company called “Volkswagen de México S.A.” on January 15, 1964. The Beetle began rolling off the assembly line at the plant in Puebla in 1967, and was followed by other worldwide export bestsellers such as the Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Cabriolet, Golf, Golf Variant and Tiguan (long version). In total, the Volkswagen Group has invested over eight billion US dollars (status: 01/2014) in Mexico from 1964 to the present day.

Mexico as a Group production location
The Volkswagen Group has three production locations in Mexico: the vehicle and components plant in Puebla, the engine plant in Silao and the Audi plant in San José Chiapa.
Volkswagen de México’s Puebla plant is one of the Group’s highest exporters and one of its largest plants worldwide, with over eleven million vehicles shipped. The factory combines all automobile manufacturing processes. The engine plant in Silao has been supplying the vehicle production plants in Puebla, Mexico, and Chattanooga, USA, with latest-generation engines since early 2013. Maximum annual capacity at the plant is 420,000 units. The most recent addition to the Volkswagen Group’s production network is Audi México with its factory in San José Chiapa. This Audi plant has an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles.