Volkswagen Announces End of Fox, Launched in 2003, The Car That Aimed to Replace Gol in the Hearts of Brazilians

The End of an Era? After 18 Years of Operation in the Brazilian Market, the Hatch is Nearing Goodbye and Image of the Alleged Last Volkswagen Fox Goes Viral on Social Media

Another farewell. Designed by Volkswagen to replace the Gol in the hearts of Brazilians, the Fox is counting down its final days and will bid farewell to the national market after 18 years of existence. Reported by UOL columnist Jorge Moraes, the compact will cease production at the São José dos Pinhais (PR) factory, after almost two decades, to make way for the growth of the T-Cross.

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Launched in 2003, the hatch emerged as an option to the Volkswagen Gol, with a taller body, even being exported to Europe and, according to Calmon, will no longer be offered in our market in December. The journalist also states that the “older brothers” Gol, Voyage, and Saveiro will have a lifeline until 2024, and their replacements are already in development.

The Fox was an immediate success in Brazil and since then, it resisted being phased out in Europe and remained strong in the Brazilian market. Its appeal more geared toward female consumers reminds me of the campaign featuring the charming Ana Hickmann, standing at 1.86 m.

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Volkswagen’s Fox Will Exit Production Line to Make More Space for the T-Cross

According to information published on the portal, which has not been officially confirmed yet, Volkswagen has declared the end of Fox production in Brazil to meet demand for the compact SUV.

Currently positioned (26th place in the Fenabrave ranking as of August), the Fox sells poorly and is no longer a priority for VW; read Nivus, Taos, and T-Cross. One of the factors that may have influenced the decision is linked to the sales of the two models.

According to Fenabrave’s (National Federation of Automotive Vehicle Distribution) website, the Fox registered only 926 new units from August 1 to 31, ranking 35th. Meanwhile, the T-Cross sold 6,698 units in the same period, closing as the 6th most-registered vehicle overall, and the 3rd among SUVs.

With the departure of the Fox, Volkswagen fans will be left without a versatile car, unique in its class. Just like the Up and the wave generated by younger buyers.

At dealerships, in the final stock, it is offered only in two versions: Xtreme and Connect. The cars are equipped with a 1.6 MSI engine producing 104 hp and a five-speed manual transmission. A few weeks ago, the stores stopped accepting new orders for the hatch.

After Fiat and Renault, Volkswagen, the World’s Largest Automaker, Halts Production at SP Factory and Places 800 Workers on Collective Vacation Today (04/10)

In an effort to align the production level with demand, the Volkswagen factory in Taubaté, in the countryside of São Paulo, will give collective vacation to 800 production employees starting today (04/10), according to the Taubaté Metalworkers Union (Sindimetau), which corresponds to one production shift of the Gol and Voyage models. The global crisis due to a lack of components has led other multinational companies such as Fiat and Renault to take the same measure.

This will be the sixth period of collective vacation at the Vale do Paraíba unit, which also experienced 11 days of shutdown and an additional five days of day off — both utilizing employees’ hour banks — due to bottlenecks in parts supply. Between May 3 and 12, the factory was halted, but for another reason: to adapt production for new models built on the MQB modular platform.

According to the entity, there are currently 15,000 cars parked in the factory yard waiting for parts to be completed. The number of employees on collective vacation, according to the union, is equivalent to one production shift. The expected return date for workers is October 7. “This year, 11 days of shutdown and an additional five days of day off have already been recorded (both utilizing the hourly bank), due to the lack of parts,” the entity added in a statement sent to the press.