Kombi production ends.

I heard that production of the Kombi is coming to an end in Brazil. Production will end in 2013 sometime,is this true.
Its might have to do with Airbags or the law might be changing in Brazil.What Law? Any one else hear anything about it?

Looks like I should have read futher as matberry has bet me to it. Thanks for that matberry.

After 63 years. Pretty good run.

The 'Kombi' isn't dead. It's just called the T5 model now, and you can get one at your local VW dealer. It's only the ancient Brazilian model they're talking about.

Brazil didn't make the T1 Kombi until 1953, and was still making that earlier split screen T1 Kombi right up to 1975. After that they made the unique 'T1-and-a-half', which was the old T1 Kombi body shell with a newer T2 nose and tail lights. That was made until 1996 !

The current Brazilian fully T2 model was introduced in 1996. It is actually a 'T2c', as it had a different higher roof pressing and different door skins from the last 1979 German and Australian versions. The air-cooled engine was discontinued at the end of 2005 and replaced by a Polo-based 1.4-litre in-line watercooled 'Totalflex' engine that can run on pure ethanol. The Brazilian Kombi was the last air-cooled VW, and the last rear-engined VW, built anywhere in the world.

VW is modernising and standardizing its range across the world. The South African factory has ended local production of the original Golf 1 (Citi Golf and Golf Pickup) and the T3 Kombi (Volksiebus) in recent years, and now makes the same modern models as VW's German factories. China is also phasing out its old Passats, Golfs and Boras for the current Euro models. Brazil is now going the same way. They'll probably start making the T5 Transporter and Crafter in Brazil now.

yarrum wrote:I heard that production of the Kombi is coming to an end in Brazil. Production will end in 2013 sometime,is this true.
Its might have to do with Airbags or the law might be changing in Brazil.What Law? Any one else hear anything about it?

You can buy these new in the UK...

LHD or converted to RHD

Car Laws still slack in the UK..

Bay window kombi campers...

some panels like doors are slightly different.. [pressings]

LEE

As soon as the shape and air cooled engine of kombi,s arn,t built any more the kombi as we realy know is dead.I can,t rate the new T5 as the same class as the older Kombi.

By that definition then, the 'Kombi' has already been dead for seven years, as the air-cooled engine ended production in 2006. The Brazilian Kombi has had a watercooled 1.4-litre Polo engine for the last seven years. The black square on the nose is the radiator. Here's the VW Brazil website, where you can download the current Kombi brochure (in Portuguese🙂

http://www.vw.com.br/pt/carros/Kombi/informacoes.html

It's an old design that no longer meets modern design rules for safety, emissions and economy. It's also becoming too expensive to produce given that VW nowadays bases their production models on shared platforms. I'm not surprised it's coming to an end. We should be happy it's lasted as long as it has.

Yes you can buy converted Brazilian Kombis in the UK, converted by Danbury Conversions. Yes they convert to RHD and fit out the interior - BUT the sliding door is still on the right hand side. And they cost as much as a new T5 California Camper, which is infinitely superior.

Most people who 'don't rate' the new T5 have never driven one. Up to 132 kW and 400 Nm and the choice of 4Motion AWD if you want it. 6-speed manual or 7-speed DSG. And 'Kombi' is still an official VW name for some models (although not sold in Australia under that name, except for the short-lived Kombi Beach):

http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.de/de/models/transporter_kombi.html