Volkswagen Australasia

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A VW Beetle made in Australia made an expedition to Antarctica . This is a replica.

Volkswagen Australasia Pty Ltd was an Australian manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

The company was founded in Clayton in 1957 . In 1959 the production of automobiles began there. The brand name was VW . After the best sales year in 1964 with 25,736 vehicles, things went downhill. In 1966 there were only 18,208 vehicles and in 1968 there were 11,000 vehicles.

In 1968 it was decided to discontinue local production in view of the political requirements of 95% domestic production and instead to rely on the SV (for "small volume") plan, in which up to 7,500 vehicles per year are tax-privileged as a CKD rate could be imported if 60% of the vehicle came from domestic production. At the same time, Motor Producers Limited was founded as a full Volkswagen subsidiary, which also assembled vehicles from other brands, including Datsun, Volvo and Mercedes trucks. Volkswagen's body presses and machine tools were brought to Mexico, Brazil and other Volkswagen locations.

After the complete takeover of Motor Producers Limited - and thus the plant - by Nissan , the local CKD assembly of Volkswagen vehicles took place under the responsibility of Nissan from April 1976 until it was finally discontinued in March 1977. Nissan had already been named as a tenant in 1968.

vehicles

The first and most important model was the VW Beetle , which had been assembled by Martin & King in Australia since 1954 .

The VW Country Buggy appeared in 1967 and was the only independent model. This VW buggy was based on the chassis of the VW Beetle.

literature

  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 3: P – Z. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1700. (English)
  • Tony Davis: Aussie Cars. A Pedr Davis Production . Marque Publishing Company, Hurstville 1987, ISBN 0-947079-01-7 , pp. 80 and 99 (English).

Web links

Commons : Volkswagen Australasia  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1700. (English)
  2. a b c Tony Davis: Aussie Cars. A Pedr Davis Production . Marque Publishing Company, Hurstville 1987, ISBN 0-947079-01-7 , pp. 80 and 99 (English).
  3. a b c d no longer runs In: Der Spiegel , issue 46/1968 of November 11, 1968 (accessed on November 28, 2015)
  4. Volkswagen Beetle at museumvictoria.com.au.
  5. ^ A b Phil Matthews: 1965-1969: Australian Volkswagen History .
  6. ^ Phil Matthews: 1975-1979: Australian Volkswagen History .