Puebla de los Angeles

Volkswagen's Puebla plant produces over 320,000 vehicles annually — the single factory that makes Mexico the world's seventh-largest auto exporter. The plant assembles the Tiguan, Taos, and Jetta for the entire North American market, employing 11,000 workers directly and supporting over 120,000 jobs in the surrounding automotive supplier ecosystem.

This concentration is not accidental. VW chose Puebla in 1964 because the city sat two hours from Mexico City with cheap labour, reliable water at 2,166 metres elevation, and a colonial infrastructure that predated any competitor's claim. The original Beetle plant became the anchor around which 70+ auto parts suppliers clustered, creating the interdependence that makes relocation virtually impossible for any single firm.

Volkswagen Puebla produces 320,000+ vehicles annually for all of North America — one factory that makes Mexico the world's 7th-largest auto exporter.

The Volkswagen plant has shaped Puebla's identity so thoroughly that the city celebrates the Beetle as a cultural icon. When VW ended global Beetle production, the last one rolled off Puebla's line. The factory's influence extends beyond automotive: it created the skilled workforce that attracted Audi to build a separate plant in nearby San Jose Chiapa, producing the Q5 SUV exclusively for global export.

But Puebla's economy tells a dual story. The UNESCO World Heritage colonial centre generates substantial tourism revenue, and the food processing industry — built around mole, cemitas, and the regional cuisine that earned Puebla recognition as a Creative City of Gastronomy — adds a second economic layer. The city is both factory floor and cultural capital, the way a coral reef supports both industrial fishing and tourism without the two economies touching.

The vulnerability is singular dependency. When VW faced the 2015 dieselgate scandal, Puebla's production slowed and the ripple effects reached every supplier in the corridor. A single corporate decision in Wolfsburg can idle 120,000 Mexican jobs overnight — keystone-species risk at its clearest.