The Secret Why VW of Mexico is Succeeding, While VW of America is failing

A few days ago, in original-flavor Twitter (accept no substitutions!) I was replying to friend of the blog Robbie de Graff  as he was sharing with us, that, as usual, the people running Volkswagen of America can’t distinguish their own ass from a hole in the ground:

These 2 weeks, The Caradise is visiting Mexico! so we can show a bit of the car market south of the border. Granted, VW was the first non-American Manufacturer to start selling and building cars here. So this is near home ground for them. However, it is surprising to see just how strong Volkswagen de Mexico SA de CV is doing so much better than his American counterpart.

So, what’s the secret? There is an old Mexican saying: “Al cliente, lo que pida” which translates roughly as ‘Our customer? Whatever they want” and VW of Mexico has gone the long way to fulfill this in very interesting ways.

Of course, VW provided Mexicans with their first taste of cheap, simple and reliable mobility: The VW Beetle. Here this car was just all over the place. Sold here the longest of any country, from 1964 to 2002, the Beetle was the official Taxi Cab for decades in the entire country, and the car most Mexican families drove at some time or another. The car was so ubiquitous that even small independent pharmacies and local grocery shops (!) sold VW Beetle parts over the counter. The fact that is a bit rare to see now to see is because the government pushed for VW Bettles to stop being taxi cabs (due to emissions) and because the economy seem to have grown enough for a lot of people have upgraded their VW Bugs to other, better cars.

When the beloved by Mexicans VW Jetta MK IV was replaced by the newer, but not better, Jetta MK V, they raised hell. So what did VW do?  They resurrected the MK IV a year later, bringing back the Jetta MK IV tooling, and naming it ‘Clasico’ and sold it alongside the Jetta, so the Jetta MK IV was sold from 1999-2014!

VW also brought the other flavors of the Jetta: The Bora, The Vento, The Gol sedan, The Virtus   That’s how much Mexicans love the VW Jetta, so much VW offered the same car in like 7 different names and slightly different configurations in the last twenty years.

While VW struggles in the USA, here VW offers a complete catalog: A small Pick up truck, Two different van sizes, sells 3 Jettas, along with 5 SUVs and a Hybrid plus an upcoming EV.

Is that not enough? OK, VW also brought to Mexico, in the mid 2010s their SEAT brand, which obviously was pushed by their Jetta-rebodied sedans and hatchbacks. It also introduced Audi for the higher income purchasers who would never be caught dead in a VW.

Still want more? OK, lets bring the CUPRA line, with the higher powered engines and better versions of the VW and SEAT vehicles.

VW of Mexico dominates the market, and the hearts of millions of Mexicans, they have gone out of their way to grow their market by providing the cars that people want! How hard is that to do?

Take a look at the Lineup, and this is *just* VW. Add SEAT and CUPRA and they have a lineup of cars 3x larger than the USA.

Meanwhile back in the USA, the VW Arteon has just been killed, the latest Golf/GTIs were panned as worse than their previous versions, and instead of playing hardball in one of the largest markets in the world, VW continues to shrink. They are a very capable company, but their USA business is certainly suffering, mostly due for not giving customers what they want. Looking at their latest moves, they keep missing the point.