VW announced that by the end of this month the last Kombi will roll out of the Anchieta plant at Sao Bernardo do Campo near Sao Paolo, Brazil.
The production of this vehicle started back in 1950 in Wolfsburg (Germany) and in Brazil as of 1957, the largest VW production facility outside Germany.
A total of 3.5 million Kombis (Also known as the “Hippie Bus”) have been produced of which 1.5 million rolled out of the Anchieta plant, in what became the longest continuous automotive production in history.
Volkswagen’s director of sales for Brazil, Jochen Funk states that the end of production is because of new safety legislations in Brazil, which require all new vehicles to be fitted with Anti-Lock brakes and dual airbags. Given that it’s physically impossible for those to fit in the Kombi, production must now stop.
“We still sell more than 2,000 units a month,” said Volkswagen’s Marketing Manager Carlos Leite, adding that Brazil is losing an icon but not replacing it with anything.
To commemorate this occasion, a limited series of 1200 Last Edition models were built, aimed at collectors and featuring a two-tone paintwork, whitewall tyres and a special interior with two-tone vinyl seats and a numbered plaque on the dash.
News reports indicated that Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, is investigating whether an exemption from the safety legislation can be made for the Kombi, based on the fact that its original design didn’t allow room for such features.