Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 10:12:35 +1000
Reply-To: Simon Glen <simonglen@BIGPOND.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Simon Glen <simonglen@BIGPOND.COM>
Subject: Re: Mexico/Vanagon report-Guadalajara/Puerto Vallarta
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854";
x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Dear Zach,
Yes, you are correct. The VW Fox which was sold in USA from 1987 to 1994 as a
2-door and 4-door sedan and a 2-door wagon was fully imported from Brazil. It
was merely a re-badged first generation Brazilian VW Voyage (sedan) and VW
Parati (wagon). This same model was also marketed in Argentina as the VW Gacel
and the VW Senda and in other parts of latin America and the West Indies as the
VW Amazon.
(VW have a bad habit using different model names in different markets and even
giving different models the same name in different markets. Thus, the name
"Fox" has been used for the Audi 80 in USA and Australia as well as for the VW
Voyage/Parati in USA. Likewise, the second generation Passat was sold as the
VW "Quantum" in USA, the VW "Santana" in Japan, China and Brazil, the VW
"Carat" in Argentina and as the VW "Cosar" in Mexico but merely as the VW
"Passat" in much of the rest of the world.)
In September 1994 a second generation of the Brazilian Gol/Parati/Saviero cars
was introduced. This was a completely re-designed range, not just a
face-lifted version. This second generation has not been sold in the USA and
is now sold in Mexico as the VW "Pointer".
However, if you go to Brazil and see a car with VW "Pointer" labels on it, this
car has nothing to do with the Gol/Parati/Saviero range. The Brazilian VW
Pointer is no longer in production. It was the product of an ill-conceived
union in 1987 between Ford and VW in Brazil to form a company called Autolatina
Brasil SA. There was a divorce at the end of 1995 and Ford and VW went their
separate ways. The Brazilian VW Pointer was a progeny of this marriage and
was, in fact, a Ford Escort made in VW factory with a VW engine and VW badges.
At the time and as an additional product of this bad marriage, the Brazilian VW
Santana (Passat II in Europe and Quantum in USA) was also marketed in Brazil as
the Ford Versailles !!!!!
So, you can see how confusing Volkswagen's model naming can be.
Regards and happy VW motoring,
Simon Glen, Toowoomba, Australia
1992 VW T3 Transporter Syncro van
1969 VW 411
Zach Kaplan wrote:
> Simon Glen <simonglen@BIGPOND.COM> wrote:
>
> > The vehicles seen in Mexico with "Pointer" labels on them are not Golfs
> > or Jettas but are Brazilian-made VW "Gol" and "Parati" vehicles
> > re-labelled as VW "Pointer" for the Mexican market. The
> > Gol-Parati-Pointer (whatever they are called) cars, wagons and pick-ups
> > are vastly different from the Golf and Jetta. They are marginally
> > smaller than the Golf and Jetta (Bora) but bigger than the VW Polo.
> > But, most significantly, in the Gol-Parati-Pointer range the engines are
> > fitted in a North-South direction while the Golf-Jetta range engines are
> > fitted in an East-West direction.
>
> Is the Gol-Parati-Pointer a newer version of the Brazilian wagons and sedans
> VW sold in the US in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the Fox model?
>
> Zach Kaplan
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