The Volkswagen Beetle, also known as a Type 1, Bug or Kafer, was commissioned by Adolf Hitler, with the aim of producing an economic and robust little car for the people.

Ferdinand Porsche was instructed to build a car that was capable of transporting two adults and three children at a speed of 100 km/h. The VW Beetle started production in 1938, finishing a massive 65 years later in 2003. During this time although the basic design changed, the outline stayed very true to the pre WW2 concept. It was designed to be mechanically simple, economical to maintain and robust, with as little to go wrong as possible. This probably underpins why so many Beetles are still on the road, and why it has its reputation for reliability and sturdiness. Production continued in Mexico until the New Beetle was introduced.

Production Factories

In total over 22 million VW Beetles were produced in 15 different factories around the world including:

• São Bernardo do Campo,Brazil
• Puebla, Mexico
• Wolfsburg, Germany
• Hanover, Germany
• Emden, Germany
• Ingolstadt, Germany
• Osnabrück, Germany
• Lagos, Nigeria
• Uitenhage, South Africa
• Brussels, Belgium
• Jakarta, Indonesia,
• Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
• Manila, Philippines
• Melbourne, Australia
• Auckland, New Zealand

Beginning of VIN Numbers and Engine Seriel Numbers for Specific Years

1948

Beginning of VIN 72 743 Engine Serial No. 1-100 788

1949

Beginning of VIN 91 921 Engine Serial No. 1-122 649

1950

Beginning of VIN 138 554 Engine Serial No. 1-169 913

1951

Beginning of VIN 220 133 Engine Serial No. 1-265 600

1952

Beginning of VIN 313 829 Engine Serial No. 1-379 470

1953

Beginning of VIN 428 156 Engine Serial No. 1-519 136

1954

Beginning of VIN 575 415 Engine Serial No. 1-0695282

1955

Beginning of VIN 781 885 Engine Serial No. 1-0945527

1956

Beginning of VIN 1 020 746 Engine Serial No. 1-1120615

1957

Beginning of VIN 1 394 119 Engine Serial No. 1-4595946

1958

Beginning of VIN 1 600 440 Engine Serial No. 1-937450

1959

Beginning of VIN 2 226 206 Engine Serial No. 2-721-313

1960

Beginning of VIN 2 528 668 Engine Serial No. 3-072-320

1961

Beginning of VIN 3 192 507 Engine Serial No. 5-000-001

1962

Beginning of VIN 4 010 995 Engine Serial No. 5-958-948

1963

Beginning of VIN 4 846 836 Engine Serial No. 6-935-204

1964

Beginning of VIN 5 677 119 Engine Serial No. 7-893-119

1965

Beginning of VIN 115 000 001 Engine Serial No.8-796-623

1966

Beginning of VIN 116 000 001 Engine Serial No. F-0-000-001

1967

Beginning of VIN 117 000 001 Engine Serial No. H-0-204-001

1968

Beginning of VIN 118 000 001 Engine Serial No. H-0-204-001

1969

Beginning of VIN 119 000 001 Engine Serial No. H-5-414-586

1970

Beginning of VIN 110 2000 001 Engine Serial No. B-6-000-0001

1971

Beginning of VIN 111 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AE-0-005-901

1972

Beginning of VIN 112 2000 000 Engine Serial No. AE-0-558-001 (USA), AE-0-000-001 (Calif.)

1973

Beginning of VIN 113 2000 001, 113 2212 117 Engine Serial No. AH-0-005-901 ( Calif.), AE-0-917-264 (USA), AK-0-000-001 (USA)

1974

Beginning of VIN 114 2000 001 Engine Serial Number AK-0-239-365 (USA), AH-0-101-889 (Calif.)

1975

Beginning of VIN 115 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AJ-0-000-001

1976

Beginning of VIN 116 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AJ-0-012-406

1977

Beginning of VIN 117 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AJ-0-095-936

1978

Beginning of VIN 118 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AJ-0-119-688

1979

Beginning of VIN 159 2000 001 Engine Serial No. AJ-0-200-000

Mexican production continued until 2003

Number of Beetles Produced Per Year and Key Dates

Ivan Hirst takes control of what is left of VW

• 1947 = 8,987
• 1948 = 19,244
• 1949 = 46,146
• 1950 = 89,895
• 1951 = 98,709
• 1952 = 114,348
• 1953 = 151,323
• 1954 = 202,174
• 1955 = 279,986
• 1956 = 333,190
• 1957 = 380,561
• 1958 = 451,526
• 1959 = 575,407
• 1960 = 739,444
• 1961 = 827,850
• 1962 = 876,255
• 1963 = 838,488
• 1964 = 948,370
• 1965 = 1,090,863
• 1966 = 1,080,165

Electric's change from 6 to 12 volt

• 1967 = 925,787
• 1968 = 1,136,134
• 1969 = 1,219,314
• 1970 = 1,196,099
• 1971 = 1,291,612

Highest year of Beetle production ever!

• 1972 = 1,220,686
• 1973 = 1,206,018
• 1974 = 791,000
• 1975 = 441,116
• 1976 = 383,277
• 1977 = 258,634
• 1978 = 271,673
• 1979 = 263,340
• 1980 = 236,177

Production ends in Germany

• 1981 = 157,505
• 1982 = 138,091
• 1983 = 119,745
• 1984 = 118,138
• 1985 = 86,189
• 1986 = 46,633
• 1987 = 17,166
• 1988 = 19,008
• 1989 = 32,421
• 1990 = 84,716
• 1991 = 85,681
• 1992 = 86,158
• 1993 = 99,931
• 1994 = 115,656
• 1995 = 59,458
• 1996 = 40,395

Final year of production in Brazil, however the T2 or Kombi is still made there.

• 1997 = 39,825

Initial run of 320 "New Beetles" was made in Mexico, using Golf technology.

• 1998 = 41,790
• 1999 = 41,082
• 2000 = 45,234
• 2001 = 42,163
• 2002 = 25,635
• 2003  

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