In the late 90´s I needed a new transportation. The idea was to get something really economical to drive and to own. I decided not to take any chances buying a car which could get me expensive future repair bills and/or too many visits to mechanic shops. So the decision process guidelines was basically the old adage “the less things it has, less things can be broken”. Back in the time when somebody in Brazil thought about a reliable automobile the most common choice was a VW and its cheaper car available at the time was the Gol. Here it goes the story of my second VW in a row, this time a 1997 Gol 1000 Mi.
Since I was a kid I’ve been reading automobile magazines. The more I drive and the more I pay insurance, gas and maintenance costs, the more I disagree with many magazines/auto journalists in at least one critical point: on their tests they generally tend to rank technical novelties and comfort amenities over reliability. Worse, in my opinion, they also tend to jump in bandwagons, like for example judging as worse cars that don’t have more modern characteristics like certain engine specifications or new design trends. it’s not that I’m against innovation. In my point of view the problem is that with these editorial positions, they tend to reinforce convergence of design and technical/mechanical aspects of the vehicles, and for me that’s not necessarily good. Of course it’s just my personal opinion and everybody is welcome to disagree with me. But I digress.
Anyway, at certain point in the late 90’s I owned a battered 1985 VW Gol Bx (COAL here) and had to work in the day and go to college at night. That implied extensive commuting five days a week from morning to late night, plus quite a few miles of highway trips to visit relatives and friends. Clearly I needed another car, and it had to be cheap to run and to own.
Since at least the 60’s well in to the 90’s (maybe even today) most Brazilian drivers thought VW built the most rugged passenger cars available. After all it was the company that built Beetles and Buses (respectively known as Fusca and Kombi in Brazil) for decades with almost zero changes. If you thought about Honda and Toyota as a reliability benchmarks, unfortunately none used to sell small or subcompact cars in Brazil at the time. The main players in this market segment were the VW Gol, Chevrolet Corsa, Ford Fiesta and Fiat Uno and Palio. For the bottom end of the price ladder the choices consisted of 1.0 liter engines with 5 speed manual transmission and none to few comfort equipment choices.
Not that the other choices were bad, but even though I liked a lot the Fiat Uno and Palio when I had to make a decision I made a conservative choice picking a VW. For the same price I could have decided for an older generation Gol with a 1.6l or 1.8l engine. Or it could have been its 2 door sedan sibling, the VW Fox sold in North America known as Voyage in Brazil, the non-antique daily usable car I really wanted to own if wasn’t for rational reasons. But both of then were somewhat out of the game because of the high risk of theft and high insurance costs, not to mention higher consumption and higher repair costs prospects.
1993 VW Voyage Sport – a joy to drive, the one I really lusted after
So eventually I bought a 1997 VW Gol 1000 Mi. Yes, I entered the 1.0 liter engine world like many many Brazilian car buyers at the time. I must say I somewhat resisted to buy a car with an engine that small, but at that price range there was no choice with a bigger engine. I’ll give some fast facts on the so called Gol Generation 2 (G2) under the project coded AB9, launched in 1994 in Brazil and built until 2003. It was made on the same platform as the original 1980 Gol but with a totally new body. Due to the rounded design this G2 Gol are nicknamed “bola” (ball) in Brazil.
I advise you to check Rubens CC covering the whole history of the Gol. The car measured 3,8m (149,6in) long, 1,65m (65,0in) width, 1,41m (55,5in) height with a 2,47m (97,2in) wheelbase, and weighted 930 kg. Just for the sake of comparison, a 1996 Fiat Palio covered on my previous COAL had 3,73m (146,8in) long, 1,61m (63,4in) width, 1,44m (56,7in) height with a 2,36m (92,9in) wheelbase, and weighted 890 kg (1962 pounds).
I should stress that the Gol had the most traditional construction concepts of the competition. A longitudinal engine with front wheel drive whilst the others all used transverse engines. Besides the 1.6l, 1.8l and 2.0l of higher trim levels, which were too expensive for me, VW offered two choices of 1.0l engines: an 8 valve with 54 hp and 9,1 kgfm of torque at 3800 rpm and a 16 valve with 69 hp and 9,4 kgfm torque at 4500 rpm, both with multi point fuel injection. I looked for an 8v car because of its lower price and higher low end torque and better reliability prospects. I thought the 16v ones were odd to drive and seemed too weak especially to get off the line in a way the data show above don’t properly indicate. Of course the 8v was no rocket but could be driven “normally”. I used to make trips maintaining 120km/h speeds, the limit on some good flat or lightly hilly highways that I often rode.
1997 VW Gol 1000 Mi – The real one and myself in front
As a corollary of my buying decision, the car was an almost total stripper. Crank windows, no mirror regulators, no assisted steering, no air condition, no radio, non painted bumpers and many other “no’s”. But it had a few very basic equipment which meant important improvements over my previous car: rear glass defogger and washer and cold/hot forced ventilation. The bigger difference was on the driveline, because the 1.0l water cooled engine and 5 speed transmission allowed much more comfortable (less NVH) and higher speed driving than the old 1985 Gol. The fold down rear seats made room for carrying small to medium size furniture, plants, tools, and many other stuff a number of times.
1997 VW Gol 1000 Mi – interior exactly like mine
Oh, yes, the color. On purpose I picked the most beautiful I found that was outside the white-silver-gray-black palette that probably accounts for some 95% of Brazilian cars since early 90’s. Unfortunately that was the only time I had a chance to choose a car with a color I liked. Ok, green is not everyone cup of tea but it reminds me of the 60’s and 70’s when many cars had real colors like red, green, blue, etc. I made only a few and cheap modifications.
Right away after buying the car I painted the original gray steel wheels with a black spray, the same thing I did on my previous and on my next car. I put some dark film on the windows (except windshield). These things are widely used in Brazil, especially to deter excessive heat and to improve security on big cities. I also swapped the original shift knob for a nicer one from a first generation Gol. I also had some trim outside details painted of the same color of the body (a “gift” the VW dealer gave me when they repainted the fenders and hood on warranty).
I had a few minor annoyances related to built/assembly quality. Me and my friends used to wash our cars (a good excuse to listen to music and drink beer) on saturday evenings at one of the guys garage/driveway. Some months after buying the car I notice that the paint started to peel at the front fenders and hood. I had to take it twice to the VW dealer for warranty repaint. Some other problems were the muffler that rusted (a typical problem on that year model Gol). It had to be swapped three times. There were few other problems of finish and trim but in the end the car never broke down, never let me on the road.
VW Gol G2 – radiator stays besides and not in front of the longitudinal engine
After a couple years of ownership I became aware that some people had more comfortable cars that were at least as reliable as the Gol, but anyway I didn’t care and I couldn’t blame VW for lack of comfort because it was an intrinsic attribute of that car. The main cause was its terrible ergonomics, seats that were somewhat hard and also the suspension. Maybe that’s what many people see as “sportiness” or maybe I’m more on the comfort side, a point which will be clearer on the next COALs.
The mighty VW Gol GTI 16v (2.0l) with 145hp
I drove that Gol until 103 thousand km (64 thousand miles) and in the end it accomplished its main task of basic trouble free and relatively cheap transportation. As I concluded college and the car was showing some signs of future intense maintenance bills I started seeking for another car. That’s to be seen on my next COAL.
Disclaimer: although being the best seller in Brazilian market at the time, it’s very hard to find a good picture of a stock G2 Gol. Most of these cars have been mistreated, tuned, lowered or suffered many kinds of aftermarket modifications. Finding a picture of one on the same green color as mine was even more challenging.
Interesting car. one more the U.S. never got .
-Nate
Ah, the ol’ an’ reliable Gol. This was the car thet changed the Argentinian market. Before them there was a strong bias towrds acquiring four door sedans, even in the low price field (see Renault 12 L or VW 1500). But then the Gol changed that and beat the Fiat Uno at reaching for the first car owners who looked for cheap and reliable transportation.
However we never had those 1 liter engined models, since there was no taxation incentives as in Brazil. We did have Diesel versions that IIRC are forbidden for non-commercial vehicles in our northern neighbour.
The new generations still are best sellers down here.
A good story. For such a small inexpensive car, that interior is quite attractive.
You raise a good point on what makes a good car. A good car for magazine testers may be a good car for someone who takes a 2 year lease, but what is a good car to own for ten years or maybe buy used at fifteen years is often a very different thing. And when buying new, you really have no idea if what you choose will be good later as well as good now. As they say in the financial services advertising, past performance is no indicator of future returns.
I enjoy the same philosophy about cars: the simpler, the better. Pretty much all the cars I’ve owned have been “stripper” models, but 1, a 1992 Infiniti G20/Nissan Primera. Unfortunately, consumers, insurance companies, and our federal government pretty much “demand” a lot of equipment that I feel I could do without, like reversing cameras.
I’ve owned a couple of VW products, and the older ones seemed better built. I guess the newer ones aren’t any worse built than the older ones…or any other modern car.
Not sure if I would have chosen a VW over a Ford Fiesta, though.
I agree about simpler cars. My first car was a 1961 Ford Fairlane with the only option being an automatic transmission. I got rid of it at 8 years old and 96,000 miles because the body was in bad shape (rust and dings). Never had a problem or breakdown. Later cars I owned had problems with things like power windows, inside trunk light, rear defrosters and the CD player.
Nice, Exterminator. My kind of car. It’s honest and basic.
Your parameters were what drove me in buying my 63 Valiant, 37 years ago, and remain the same today.
We hold the same views across the miles and years apart in age.
Another attractive small VW that we never saw in the US. Seems we discussed on another thread how the late 80s Gol that was imported to the US as a price leader seemed to be crippled lacking the option of both an automatic transmission and power steering, My theory is this was done to provide an opening for the salesman to move the customer up to a Golf or Jetta, where an automatic and power steering were available. I gather that an automatic trans was not available on the Gol in Brazil until the 2000s, but seems the automatic from the first gen Passat should have fit, if VW had actually wanted to sell the Fox here, rather than use it as bait.
Another nice Brazilian model we never saw here was the late 2000s Chevy Vectra. GM, in it’s mysterious ways, brought us the European built Astra hatchback, when hatchbacks were at their nadir in the US, and underpowered with a 1.8, instead of the sedan version developed in Brazil, powered by a 2.4.
Counterpoint; hatchbacks were already on the rise in ’06-7 and if they had wanted to give Saturn a new C-segment sedan they’d have just rebadged a Cobalt.
Counterpoint; hatchbacks were already on the rise in ’06-7 and if they had wanted to give Saturn a new C-segment sedan they’d have just rebadged a Cobalt.
There were B segment hatchbacks, Hyundai carried on an Accent hatch that had it’s first gen in the 90s and Kia had a 5 door Rio that had started in 02 as the Rio Cinco. Toyota had the Yaris. Honda started importing the Fit for 07.
In the C segment, the Mazda3 carried on where the Protege5 had started in 02. The Subaru Impreza wagon had been around since the 90s.
On the other hand, the last Honda Civic hatch, the Brit built Si was dropped in 05. Ford dropped the Focus wagon and hatch in 07. The VW Rabbit was selling in much smaller numbers than the Jetta.
I agree the smart move would have been a restyled Cobalt, that presented a better vehicle than the also Delta based Ion. Barring that, the Brazilian Astra based sedan would have hit closer to the fat part of the market, than the European hatch.
Opel looked over the Brazilian Vectra, bolted on an Astra front clip and Astra interior and called it their own.
The Cobalt was already a re-worked ION.That would have been the logical move, nlpnt.
And there was already one in the design stage to be called the Evoq or something like that.But that was cancelled to “pull the GMT 900 program forward”. Because SUVs.
The Cobalt was already a re-worked ION.That would have been the logical move, nlpnt.
The end of the Ion may have been a bit precipitate, caused by the decision to close Spring Hill, Reworking the Cobalt to create a distinctive Saturn product, halfway through the Cobalt’s lifespan, was probably deemed too expensive, so GM decided to do something quick and dirty, by importing whatever was close at hand. The Daewoo Lacetti was also at the end of it’s life. For that matter, the Astra H was at the end of it’s life as well. Some sources indicate the Brazilian Vectra was built as late as 2011, so Saturn could have had access to it that long, if the division had survived.
If you have ever looked inside an Astra H, you may have noticed that it isn’t much nicer than a Cobalt. The Vectra looks a bit nicer, at least in photos. While all the switchgear is Astra, the Vectra has a temp gauge and the HVAC controls look much nicer.
Actually, the Brazilian Vectra’s switchgear is from the Astra G, in an attempt to reduce costs. You can see that by the radio display (2 line with date, time, outside temp and radio station), the separate HVAC display, and the 4-gauge cluster (instead of 3). That is due to the Astra G being produced there since 1998. Opel corrected that when they decided to sell it as an Astra
Actually, the Brazilian Vectra’s switchgear is from the Astra G,
Agree on the instrument cluster. Good catch.
The window and mirror switches on the driver’s door, the door pulls and, the turn signal and wiper levers look like Astra H gear.
This dealer’s video give a good look at the driver’s door.
Indeed they look like they’re from the H. The pic you uploaded already has revised HVAC controls, which I’ve only seen in the Vectra. The first one (2006), pictured, also has the old Astra G/Corsa C HVAC control panel.
To this day, I still have no idea why GM Brazil didn’t use the full Astra H switchgear.
To this day, I still have no idea why GM Brazil didn’t use the full Astra H switchgear.
Brazil was still building the Astra G until 09, so it overlapped this Vectra, a lot. They probably reused things from the G that would have been very expensive to rework, like the instrument cluster, but switched to the Astra H hardware for smaller things to differentiate the models. Besides, I think the G instrument cluster looks more upscale because it has a temp gauge.
It took a lot of digging, but I finally found a price on the Brazilian Vectra. In 2008, the Elite trim with a 2.4 stickered for R76,527, which works out to 29,747 Euros. A Euro was worth about $1.50 then, so the price works out to $44,620US. The Polish built Opel version with a 1.8 stickered for 23.517 Euros, or $35,275US. I don’t know how much of that may be VAT, that might be abated in a car that was exported, but, dang. The Astra H that Saturn imported to the US stickered for $15,375-$18,875US
Makes me wonder how VW Canada was able to import Brazilian made Mk IV Golfs in that same time period and make it a price leader, undercutting the German built Mk V Golf.
I heard Brazil gets godawful taxes on cars. So do Europeans but I think Brazilians get even worse ones.
The synergy with the Astra G is also my theory, but then for Europe, Opel put the full H switchgear. Smaller engines and lesser taxes might explain the lower price. The Vectra is trimmed to a higher standard because in Brazil, owning one of those does the same for status as having a 3 series does in Europe, hence the leather seats, the 2.0 and 2.4 engine, and the Vectra name.
Swedishbrick
Yes in Brazil most manufactured goods are highly taxed and cars are one of the worst cases: generally new cars have 30% to 35% of the final price as taxes.
The bottom line is that cars are awfully expensive here: for example, the top seller nowadays is the Chevrolet Onix, listed for about R$ 42k to over R$ 58k. Taking the current exchange rate of R$ 3,13/US$ that means US$13500 to US$18500, a real nightmare. If you go for a more familiar example also sold in USA, say a Toyota Corolla or Chevrolet Cruze sedan the starting price is near R$ 90k = US$ 28500 !
The Vectra is trimmed to a higher standard because in Brazil, owning one of those does the same for status as having a 3 series does in Europe,
I think I have seen one pic of this gen Vectra that had crank windows and manual a/c. The vast majority have all power assists and automatic climate control.
The article I found the 2008 pricing in was, in spite of being in English, about the Vecta losing share of the Brazilian “luxury segment” (the author’s words) to the new generation Civic and Corolla, with GM’s response being a price cut. I decided to do a double check of his price conversions from R$ and looked up the direct conversion of R$ to US$ on Feb 18, 2008, the date the article was published. On that date a Real was worth US$0.576020, so the new cut rate Vectra Elite he was writing about would cost $44,081.05, or about double what a Mexican built VW Jetta cost in the US.
Yes in Brazil most manufactured goods are highly taxed and cars are one of the worst cases: generally new cars have 30% to 35% of the final price as taxes.
Do you have an idea of what Brazilian autoworkers are paid? I came across a publication from the Mexican government recently aimed at recruiting automakers and vendors to build factories in Mexico. The publication showed a typical US auto plant worker making $30/hr, vs $5/hr in Mexico and US workers at auto industry vendors, I assume they are talking about tier one vendors like Denso and Lear, making $20/hr vs $2.50/hr in Mexico.
Somehow, VW Mexico finds it cost effective to import the Gol, and several other models, from Brazil, rather than producing them In Mexico.
Thanks!
Steve
I would have to research about wages but I’d guess the major problem in Brazil is not that. For example many auto factories are in states or cities with low medium income, for example the new FCA factory on the state of Pernambuco. The major problems for manufacturing sector including the auto industry are: a high tax burden of 33% of GDP biased against the most longer value chains, especially manufacturing; an over appreciated and unstable exchange rate; sky high interest rates.
Sorry Steve I let something unanswered:
“Somehow, VW Mexico finds it cost effective to import the Gol, and several other models, from Brazil, rather than producing them In Mexico”
That may be due to scale economies, fixed and sunk costs and trade tariffs. The main market for the Gol is Brazil where VW has a number of factories and that means high sunk and fixed costs. To import the Gol from Mexico they would have to shut down a lot of capacity in Brazil and pay import tariffs (Brazil and Mexico have a trade agreement but that is subject to some quotas, at least for exports to Brazil)
Here it goes Steve: according to http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/98986/the-global-car-manufacturing-wage-gap-what-do-car-factory-workers-earn , wages in auto industry in Brazil were twice of those in Mexico and around 1/4 of those in the USA.
So in the end wages are really high here, more than I thought and sure is a very bad cost equation for production considering labor here for sure are not twice as productive as Mexicans.
Here it goes Steve: according to http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/98986/the-global-car-manufacturing-wage-gap-what-do-car-factory-workers-earn ,
A wonderful find! Thank you!. I have bookmarked that page and probably will return to it tomorrow to enter that data in a spreadsheet. I am sure to run into this issue again, if nowhere else, in an economics forum I participate in.
As to why the Gol is offered in Mexico, I looked up the pricing on the VW Brazil and Mexico web sites. A 1 Litre Trendline lists for R$42,690, or $13,629.84US. The 1 Litre isn’t offered in Mexico, only a 1.6. Sticking to US Dollars for comparisons. In Brazil a 1.6 Gol Trendline lists for $15.242.17, while in Mexico the same car lists for $10,011.71. As you said, taxes account for about a third of the price of a car in Brazil. Obviously, those taxes are not charged on a car built for export.
VW Mexico imports the Vento and Polo from India. Indian labor costs are extremely low, on the order of $1.09/hr per the article you linked, yet the Polo and Vento list for $11,249.18. The Gol is cheaper than a Polo in Mexico, in spite of the higher Brazilian labor costs. Indian productivity must be abysmal.
On the topic of productivity, there is a point on the wage scale below which it is not cost effective to automate a particular function. I have watched films of Fiat 500s being built in Toluca Mexico, and noticed that workers installed the windshield and rear window of the cars by hand. In a film from the Fiat plant in Poland, the windshield and back windows of the 500s there are installed by robots. The GM plant in Ramos Arizpe, MX has a reputation for being very low tech. It is very possible that Brazilian auto workers are twice as productive as Mexicans, because the higher wages may have made it cost effective to employ more automation in the plants.
To see the extreme of automation, there are a couple build films for Mk 6 or Mk 7 VW Golfs being built in Wolfsburg. Until they get to the fiddly bits of installing the powertrain and interior trim, there are very few people around. More likely, 1 person in a control booth, watching a phalanx of machines.
I don’t know if we have resolved why GM had such an exorbitant price on the Vectra ten years ago, but I have enjoyed this discussion and learned a lot. Thanks.
Steve, you brought very important and meaningful considerations to our discussion. You’re right on your point on productivity: it’s extremely influenced by capital intensity (automation for example). I did not made myself clear when I wrote about Brazilian/Mexican workers productivity: I was thinking about an hypothetic situation in which workers have the same machinery to work with, which is not a real nor appropriate example in our case.
I’d like to add that: strategy, including risk mitigation may be very important for auto manufacturers production/plant allocation decisions. For example, trade tariffs and exchange rates may vary (in the later case it’s been a chronical problem in Brazil). Also, high automobile prices in Brazil has been kind of a puzzle for many years, anyway I think we both pointed relevant aspects for that. I’m an economist and have learned a lot with our discussion too! thank you!
For example, trade tariffs and exchange rates may vary (in the later case it’s been a chronical problem in Brazil). Also, high automobile prices in Brazil has been kind of a puzzle for many years,
I think I have addressed the last piece of unfinished business, the 2008 price of a Vectra. Found a web page with an inflation calculator for the Brazilian Real. The “new low price” for an 08 Vectra Elite of R$76,527 in Feb 2008 works out to R$134,156.07 today vs a top of the line Cruze LTZ with the sole R$10,000 option totaling R$112,990 for a spread of R$21,166.07, or US$6.757.79.
Barring a tax cut in Brazil during the intervening years, I would suspect the bulk of that extra cost in the Vectra is the result of a lot of engineering and tooling expense amortized over what was a small number of cars by US and western European standards. The Vectra was built on a longer wheelbase than the Astra H hatchback. Reportedly the platform was that of the Zafira. They probably saved the front doors of the hatchback, but they would have had to engineer and tool new back doors, uniside stampings, roof and trunk, not to mention all the trim and wire harnesses. In the US, even developing a derivative model that uses existing powertrain and platform can cost $1B, or more.
Steve, again, I think you have a point. Anyway, it may be useful to also make a price comparision of the competition on the same market niche. Would the problem be only with the Vectra? I don’t know.
Steve, again, I think you have a point. Anyway, it may be useful to also make a price comparision of the competition on the same market niche. Would the problem be only with the Vectra? I don’t know.
I would need to rely on your knowledge of the Brazilian market for comparable models. I only found the Brazilian Vectra sedan because I was studying the Opel Astra H.
GM was in an unusual position in 2005 as they had three different C segment platforms: the Delta in the US that the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 were based on, the T platform that the Astra was based on and the Daewoo platform that the Lacetti, and several other models were based on. The problem being with the global volume split among three different platforms, the R&D for each platform had fewer samples to be amortized over. Once Opel, GM North America and GM Korea all standardized on the Delta II platform under the Cruze, they had far greater volume to amortize costs over.
In 08, Opel/Vauxhall sold 334.036 Astras in Europe while GM North America sold 188.045 Cobalts and 25.439 G5s in the US, while, in China, Buick sold 169.138 Daewoo Excelles badged as Buicks.
In 2016. Opel/Vauxhall sold 250.410 Astras in Europe, GM North America sold 188.876 Cruzes and 30.277 Buick Veranos in the US and in China Buick sold 177.202 Veranos, but as the Astra, Cruze and Verano are now fundamentally the same car, they now have nearly 650,000 cars to amortize R&D over in 2016 alone, nearly double the number the most popular 08 model, the Astra, had and the Brazilian Cruze’s cost structure benefits from that broad base.
I think you worked out the price in USD of the current Brazilian Cruze at a bit over 29,000. I assume you were quoting the lower LT trim, and the automatic transmission appears to be standard. Take away the tax burden and an automatic transmission Cruze LT would be roughly $19-20,000. A US built Cruze LT with an automatic lists here for $22,325
Honda doesn’t even sell the Civic in Japan anymore and for most of the 2000s, the European Civic was an entirely different car from the US version as the European market prefers hatchbacks. 2008 Civic sales in the US were 339.289 and another 83.317 in China. Most of these are four door sedans.
Toyota sold 351.007 Corollas in the US in 08 and another 165.271 in China. Again, most of these are sedans.
I don’t think there was anything nefarious going on with the Vectra pricing. It was more a matter of what looks to be a radical redesign of more than half of the Astra H, with only 50,000 units/yr to amortize the costs over, while it’s Honda and Toyota competition had far more units to amortize a four door sedan variant over.
Not sure I would say hatchbacks were at their nadir in 2009, the year the Saturn Astra was made available. And as far as the Astra being available with a 1.8 liter engine instead of a larger displacement engine…it may not have been a good idea, but since the larger Aura had that larger engine, it’s not likely that GM would use the same engine in 2 sizes of car.
I agree with the idea that the American-spec Gol was equipped in such a way to enable a salesperson to “upsell” to the Golf, but keep in mind the VW Fox was a car for a budget-conscious buyer. Part of keeping the price low was building to a fixed spec/ limited options to maintain that reduced price. That’s one of the ways Japanese manufacturers use to keep prices on their cars reasonable. Limited options, lower prices.
As I understand it, part of the reason why imports of Brazilian-built VWs was stopped was that inflation in Brazil had started to make it unprofitable.
I think you’re right. Brazilian exchange rate suffered a huge overvaluation in mid 90’s, as consequence of very high inflation and very high interest rates.
That’s one of the ways Japanese manufacturers use to keep prices on their cars reasonable. Limited options, lower prices.
As a former Honda and Mazda owner, I well know the limited option list strategy. There were little to choose for factory installed options for my 98 Civic, but one was an automatic trans. In the case of my 85 Mazda GLC, power steering and automatic were both factory options. One of Toyota’s advertising points in the 60s was the availability of an “American style automatic transmission”
VW certainly had the hardware, in Germany, to offer the Fox with PS and Auto. Only reason I can think of, other than VW’s marketing strategy, that those options, which the majority of people wanted by 90, would not be offered would be the Brazilian government imposing an exorbitant import duty on the parts from Germany, even though they would be reexported. I don’t know what Brazilian tariff law was at the time, but I’m betting on VW marketing strategy.
Cool report. Next time please try to show to the big American audience another 1990-1996 experiment made in Brazil : the Volkswagen Pointer, a fastback more or less in the VW Golf size but having a very fast back in 45 degrees. It was a Ford Escort Orion’s platform+Ford Escort engine, wearing Volkswagen clothes. Yet another incredible camouflage is the never heard before Volkswagen Logus, essentialy a Ford Orion with improved VW fashion look, a notchback only available in 2 doors. Just a few of American ever knew that in the whole 1990 decade, both Ford Motor Co.& Volkswagen do Brasil were partners for a 50% – 50% joint venture, giving light to many siblings as well as e.g. a current Volkswagen Santana Passat of the earlier generation was promptly face lifted as a Ford Galaxy and as Ford Versailles second year, model and configurations.
Lesley,
I didn’t have any experience with the Pointer or Logus. Back in the day I used to consider then beaultiful, especially the Logus. Your description is pretty correct, except for the engine. IIRC think VW used the VW 1.8 liter (AP 800) and some had the 2.0 liter, all with manual transmition. Here it goes one shot of the second genaration Logus.
And now a Pointer.
*Wow* It does look like more like a 90s Escort than anything VW would style.
Looking over the VW Mexico line, which is very broad, I noticed something.
VW’s largest plant outside of Europe is in Puebla, Mexico, but it only produces the models that are exported to the US, Beetle, Golf, Jetta and the new Tiguan.
All the smaller vehicles VW sells in Mexico appear to be imported from somewhere else. The Vento and Polo from India and Gol, Saveiro and CrossFox all appear to come from Brazil.
I had read somewhere that Brazil was the 4th largest auto market in the world, and the number of indigenously created VWs indicates a market of significant scale that we never hear about in the US, except here on CC.
Steve, for a number of reasons auto makers in Brazil have developed several specific cars for the domestic market. I agree with you that market size had a lot to do with that, although I can point our rank compared to other markets. As VW was the top seller for like 40 years straight until like 2000, it was able to do that more than other companies.
… auto makers in Brazil have developed several specific cars for the domestic market.
While the Brazilian products may spring from the corporate parts bin, their appeal is not Brazil specific. Noted earlier developing the Chevrolet Vectra from the Opel Astra H platform, then Opel, a year later, offering that sedan in Europe, as an Astra, though the Brazilian cars appear to be trimmed to a higher level than the Opel version.
The VW Crossfox is a Brazilian development, which VW is reportedly considering for the European market.
“The car measured 3,8m (149,6in) long, 1,65m (65,0in) width, 1,41m (55,5in) height with a 2,47m (97,2in) wheelbase, and weighted 930 kg”
Those dimensions sound suspiciously familiar. The dimensions for the Mk 1 Golf from Wikipedia:
3,705 mm (145.9 in) length
1,610 mm (63.4 in) width
1,395 mm (54.9 in) height
2,400 mm (94.5 in) wheelbase
USA weight 1,750 lb (790 kg) −2,145 lb (973 kg)
horsepower for 1975 MY 1.5L 70 hp (52 kW)
They sold like hotcakes when they were withing 1% of what the Polo is, why doesn’t VW sell them now? I’d love a 1.0 TurboDiesel with a 5 speed. That would get 60-65 mpg on the highway easy
Those dimensions sound suspiciously familiar. The dimensions for the Mk 1 Golf from Wikipedia:
VW just introduced a new Polo, even larger than the last one, which was already the size of a Mk 1 Golf/Rabbit.
The G2 is quite a bit underrated.
Well. It might be because it was built after the 1992 restyling of the square, and before the G3, considered twin peaks of Gol production. The G3 had an awesome interior for the class, and was the first vw subcompact with the FIS display (GTI). If the G3 GTI was 2 door and with the 16 valve… I would already be importing one!