>> For the last five years, production has been split, with Mexico
manufacturing the Combi's engines and a Brazilian plant making the
chassis. It is unclear where Brazil would get the motors to continue
making the model. <<

From Subaru?

John Reynolds wrote:

> My brother just sent me the following - read and weep!
>
> Mexico to Halt Sales of VW Bus
>
>  Updated: Fri, Nov 23 3:37 PM EST
>
> By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer
>
> MEXICO CITY (AP) - The era of peace and love really is over: the
> Volkswagen van that took a generation on long, strange trips is going out
> of production in Mexico at year's end.
>
> Sales are scheduled to halt at the end of December. And in Brazil, the
> only other place where the boxy VW bus is still being made, union
> officials say they suspect Volkswagen is planning to end production soon
> as part of cost-cutting measures.
>
> The van, known in Latin America as the Combi, was introduced in 1950.
> Distinctive because of its air-cooled, rear-mounted engine, the van was
> last offered in 1982 in the United States as the Transporter.
>
> It is being replaced in the VW lineup by the Eurovan, a more modern
> vehicle with a water-cooled front engine.
>
> The demise of the old bus has saddened a lot of old hippies here, as
> Volkswagen conceded with full-page ads in Mexican newspapers that read
> "Adios, Combi" above a picture of a teary-eyed, aging flower-child in a
> tie-dye shirt.
>
> "I think it's gonna be a big surprise for Volkswagen fans that they were
> still making them down there," said Ryan Price, editor of the magazine VW
> Trends. "In the same sentence, I think there will be some remorse.
>
> "It's the end of an era. It came to symbolize a certain sense of freedom,
> as if they could go anywhere."
>
> That was the basis of the bus' reputation in Latin America, which was a
> little different than in the United States, where it endures as a 1960s
> icon.
>
> Multicolored paint jobs are uncommon here, and the vehicle is more prized
> for its sturdiness, seating capacity and high ground clearance - a must
> for dirt roads and mountain villages.
>
> Proof of the difference? In Brazil, one of the last big customers for the
> Combi is the army, which uses them to move personnel.
>
> Volkswagen officially lists the Combi's capacity as "eight to 11
> passengers." In some parts of Mexico, groaning microbuses are still used
> as buses, somehow carrying as many as 18 to 20 people, not always in
> strict adherence to safety rules.
>
> Volkswagen said in a statement that the Eurovan would "offer the
> modernity, new technology and space that current customers demand."
>
> The famous Volkswagen sedan - the original Beetle, or "Bug" - will
> continue to be produced at VW's Mexico plant. Green-painted Beetle taxis
> are as common in Mexico City as black cabs in Britain.
>
> While Volkswagen officials in Brazil refuse to say when or if production
> of the Combi would end, unions there - currently on strike at one VW
> plant to protest cost-cutting - say the company is uninterested in
> keeping old production lines going.
>
> For the last five years, production has been split, with Mexico
> manufacturing the Combi's engines and a Brazilian plant making the
> chassis. It is unclear where Brazil would get the motors to continue
> making the model.
>
> "It's an absurd decision. I wish they wouldn't kill it," said Israel
> Gomez, 28, whose 1964 "panoramic" microbus - which has 21 windows - draws
> admiring glances on Mexico City streets. "It's made for road trips. It
> has great sight lines.
>
> "I can't imagine Mexico without Combis," Gomez said. "It's a vehicle
> that's part of history here."
>
> ---