It is rarity to find one around, but Volkswagen Beetle remains in the memory of many Nigerians, because, once upon a time, it was the nation’s car of the people. It was a car that many could save monthly salary and buy.
Manufactured in Nigeria at the Lagos-based VON factory presently owned by Stallion Group, the legendary Beetle, was in Western Nigeria, fondly referred to as “Yerinbeto”, meaning, “move-your-head-for me to spit”, all because of its compactness with only two doors.
Hardly is any left plying the Nigerian roads.
It was as far back as 1972 that the federal government of Nigeria, in collaboration with Volkswagen of Germany, established Volkswagen assembly plant along Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Nigeria. But actual production of vehicles commenced in 1975 rolling out the 1300cc, 1500cc, 1600cc Volkswagen Beetle, Audi, Golf, Kombi bus, Jetta and Passat.
Most popular was the legendary Beetle, due to affordability and because it was easy to maintain.
Volkswagen plant, as at 1981, was producing and selling about 30,000 cars per year. Less than a decade after, the volume dropped to about 1000 per year. Unfortunately, due to ineptness of the Nigerian government, the plant shut down and in 2005, Nigerian government sold its equity interest to Stallion Group, which resuscitated the facility, where it now assemble Volkswagen vehicles, Hyundai, Nissan and Ashok Leyland buses.
In Nigeria and rest of the world, the true Volkswagen beetle is no more. But, like all legends that ever lived, the old Beetle, which Yoruba people popularly called Ajapa-Ori-Oda (Road Tortoise) successfully imprinted its image in the subconscious of the nation’s automotive lovers. One of the few vehicles that had indigenous name as well as Alias, Legendary Volkswagen beetle will forever be remembered in the history of the nation’s auto industry as a true automotive prodigy.
With Volkswagen of America’s Chattanooga plant hitting that mark , it’s worth looking back at some memorable moments for Volkswagen production– and what’s coming next.
Sixty-five years ago this August, long before the establishment the Volkswagen plant in Lagos, Nigeria, one-millionth Volkswagen rolled off the assembly line in Wolfsburg. Following World War II, the Volkswagen factory started slowly producing the Beetle and the Bus, but by 1955 the Beetle was on its way to becoming one of the best-selling vehicles ever.
To celebrate the moment, the lucky one-millionth Beetle was painted gold, with bumpers lined in rhinestones. The car rolled off the assembly line in a celebration with nearly 150,000 people joining in for the festivities. The golden, one-millionth Beetle now makes its home in Wolfsburg’s AutoStadt Museum.
Worldwide popularity of the Beetle led Volkswagen to open its first plant in Mexico in 1967, in Puebla, southeast of Mexico City. From there, Volkswagen began building Beetles that quickly became known as the “vocho” in Mexico. While sales in the United States ended in the 1970s, the original Beetle remained a popular and economical choice in Mexico. In September 1980, a red Beetle marked the one-millionth vehicle produced at the factory, with a celebration that gathered Mexican government officials, Volkswagen executives, local business partners, and hundreds of employees together. The original Beetle would remain in production there until 2003.
Eight years later, in May 2011, the first Volkswagen assembled in Chattanooga – an all-new Passat sedan – rolled off the production line. It’s taken just nine years for the Chattanooga factory to produce its one-millionth vehicle, with more than 800,000 Passat, 100,000 Atlas vehicles, and thousands of the recently launched 5-seater Atlas Cross Sport vehicles.
