Farewell from Wolfsburg
Puebla prepares for the Golf
From 2027, the Golf will move from Wolfsburg to Puebla. Volkswagen is preparing the plant for the traditional model with reused equipment from several European sites.
The Golf is the Volkswagen model par excellence. For decades, it was inseparably linked with the headquarters in Wolfsburg and shaped the plant and the brand like hardly any other vehicle. The fact that the Golf and Golf Variant are no longer to roll off the production line in Wolfsburg from 2027, but rather in Puebla, Mexico, is therefore likely still hard for many to imagine. But while the departure from Wolfsburg continues to have an emotional and industrial-policy impact, Volkswagen is already creating facts in Mexico.
The Group is preparing the Puebla plant to take over the traditional model. In doing so, the company is not relying exclusively on new production technology, but is bringing together equipment and operating resources from several European sites.
Where does the technology for the Golf come from?
This approach is particularly visible in body shop. A large part of the robots and plant components to be used in Puebla in future comes from existing plant structures, as Volkswagen told AMS. This also includes operating resources from the now closed Audi plant in Brussels.
In addition, Puebla is taking over more than 200 welding controllers and welding tongs from Neckarsulm and Emden. The technology is being reconditioned, adapted to the requirements of Golf production and integrated into the existing structures of the Mexican plant.
According to the company, the project is one of the largest retooling undertakings in the production network of the Volkswagen Group. Existing equipment will thus receive a new industrial life cycle at another location.
Why is Volkswagen relying on existing equipment?
Through reuse, Volkswagen wants to reduce procurement effort, shorten project lead times and limit resource consumption. At the same time, the approach fits into a phase in which the Group is examining investments and production costs particularly critically.
The transfer of existing technology is nevertheless not a simple relocation of machines. Equipment from different plants must be technically reworked and combined into a stable production structure. The decisive factor will be whether the merged robots and welding systems permanently meet the Golf's quality, cycle time and availability requirements.
For Puebla, the model relocation means a further enhancement within the production network. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, loses the vehicle with which the headquarters site had been particularly closely associated for decades. The electric Golf is to be produced in Wolfsburg again at a later date. However, the classic Golf will begin its journey to Mexico as early as 2027.
