Hi lads im not sure about this, is there any difference in qaulity from a splitscreen from brazil to one from france holland ,south africa

my 15 window South African Fleetline is not as well put together as my 13 window Wolfsburg bus but better than my CDK Aussie built 11window
The main difference is the welding on the 15 is not as neat as the 13 the rest is fine and straight door gaps and fit on both are good.
The 15 is the most rust free I have owned or seen.
the 11 has panel fit issues door gaps the nose is out by 15 mm to the lower passenger side.

Thing is I have seen very straight CDK Aussie buses and Woeful Wolfsburg built. Might be something to do with the build day The old Friday afternoon syndrome?
Mitchell

I would believe that German built cars would be better with all the inspectors in the factories.
VW had heaps of inspectors.. cars had to be perfect..

but.. what about commercial vehicles???

CKD could be different at any vehicle ... IMHO..

Maybe South Africian cars didn't have quality and fitment inspectors like German factories..??

seeing the idea of CKD and Non German factories is to make cars Cheaper than making them in Germany... and shipping them elsewhere,,

Cars CKD or imported and sold in Australia did NOT have Anti rust WAX etc as used in cars sold in Europe etc...

LEE

Australian CKD wasn't set up because it was 'cheaper' than making them in Germany. It was because the federal government of the time put hefty import duties (20% and more) on fully-imported vehicles. CKD assembly reduced the tax liability and allowed a lower retail sales price. The move to full manufacture from 1959-60 followed this logic further. AND it was the reason why fully imported Golfs (from 1977) were more expensive than Kingswoods and Falcons.

VW Europe didn't use wax flooding until the early 1980s. During the air-cooled era both VW Germany and VW Australasia used full body-dip paint techniques. VW Australasia's 4-step baked enamel painting process wasn't duplicated by Ford and GMH until the 1990s!

In the 1960s VW Australasia in Clayton had the largest and most modern quality control laboratory in Australia, where all aspects of the manufacturing process was rigorously tested. We also had plenty of inspectors on the Clayton lines, although this aspect was much reduced after the financial difficulties from 1966-68. Australian-made VWs were, in general, at least 90% as good as German-built cars (period tests usually refer to Australian cars having paintwork only slightly inferior to the German equivalents). Of course the Friday afternoon syndrome may have applied - and certainly did into the 1970s when Datsuns were also assembled in Melbourne. By 1976, when Nissan owned the factory, local VW assembly was crap.

Transporters were only made in Wolfsburg until 1956; after that production was moved to Hanover (where T5s are made today).