Vehículos Automotores Mexicanos
Encyclopedia
Automaker
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The original organization, a distributor for Willys-Overland vehicles, became government controlled in 1963 with American Motors Corporation
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
(AMC) holding a minority interest. The company imported and produced automobiles and light trucks under license from AMC. The early-1980s collapse of the Mexican economy forced a sale of the Mexican government's interest in VAM to Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
, which shut down the firm in the late 1980s.
History
Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos was established in 1963 after the Mexican Government passed a law to control the government-owned SOMEX (Sociedad Mexicana de Credito Industrial), the parent companyParent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
of Willys Mexicana S.A. (established since 1946 as a distributor for Willys-Overland Jeeps) that held the license to produce and import AMC Ramblers. Willys Mexicana was transformed into VAM in 1963 after an agreement between American Motors Corporation (AMC) and the Mexican Government. At the same time, AMC took a 40% equity
Ownership equity
In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If liability exceeds assets, negative equity exists...
interest in VAM, but did not actively participate in the company's management. Government content regulations required VAM vehicles had to have at least 50% locally sourced parts.
AMC's stake in VAM passed into the hands of Renault in late 1980 when Renault assumed the majority (controlling) ownership of AMC. The last AMC based cars were produced in 1983, the same year the last two wheel drive cars were produced by AMC in the US. Beginning in 1984 VAM produced several Renault models.
Financial problems during a collapse of the Mexican economy (recession and devaluation of the Mexican peso
Mexican peso
The peso is the currency of Mexico. Modern peso and dollar currencies have a common origin in the 15th–19th century Spanish dollar, most continuing to use its sign, "$". The Mexican peso is the 12th most traded currency in the world, the third most traded in the Americas, and by far the most...
, beginning in 1982) forced the eventual sale of the Mexican government's interest in the company to Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
. The Mexican government actually paid Renault some US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
200 million to take over VAM and assume its debts in 1987. Renault then closed VAM down.
Products
Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos manufactured American Motors passenger cars and JeepJeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
s under license. Most VAM cars mimicked domestic (U.S.) models. In the sixties, VAM produced the Rambler American
Rambler American
The Rambler American is an automobile manufactured by the American Motors Corporation between 1958 and 1969. The American was the second incarnation of AMC's forerunner Nash Motors second-generation Rambler compact that was sold under the Nash and Hudson Motors marques from 1954 and 1955.The...
(in 2- and 4-door and wagon versions), a version of the AMC Rebel
AMC Rebel
The AMC Rebel is a mid-size car produced by American Motors Corporation from 1967 to 1970. It replaced the Rambler Classic. The Rebel was replaced by the similar AMC Matador for the 1971 model year...
called the "Rambler Classic SST" (in 2- and 4-door versions) and the AMC Javelin
AMC Javelin
The Javelin was a production version of one of the AMC AMX prototypes shown during the 1966 AMX project nationwide tour. Intended to rival other pony cars such as the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro. American Motor's Javelin debuted on 22 August 1967, for the 1968 model year...
. In the seventies VAM produced a full line of AMC Hornet
AMC Hornet
The AMC Hornet was a compact automobile made by the American Motors Corporation in one generation beginning with the 1970 model year and continuing through the 1977 model year. The Hornet replaced the compact Rambler American marking the end of the Rambler marque in the American and Canadian markets...
s, called first "Rambler American" and later just "American," plus a sport version called "Rambler Rally". The Hornet hatchback was badged a "Rally AMX." AMC Gremlin
AMC Gremlin
The AMC Gremlin is a two-door subcompact car produced in the United States and Canada by the American Motors Corporation between 1970 and 1978. AMC reduced its development and manufacturing costs by adapting a shortened Hornet platform with a Kammback-type tail...
s, Javelins, and Pacers
AMC Pacer
The AMC Pacer is a two-door compact automobile produced in the United States by the American Motors Corporation between 1975 and 1980.Its initial design idea was started in 1971. The car's unusual rounded shape with massive glass area greatly contrasted with the three-box architecture with "square,...
were sold under their original U.S. names. The AMC Matador
AMC Matador
The AMC Matador is a mid-size car that was built and sold by American Motors Corporation from 1971 to 1978. The Matador came in two generations: 1971 to 1973 and a major redesign from 1974 to 1978...
sedan models were badged as "Rambler Classics," and the Matador Coupe was produced in a sport version called "Classic AMX" and a luxury "Classic Brougham."
In later years, VAM badged variants of the AMC Spirit
AMC Spirit
The AMC Spirit was a subcompact marketed by American Motors Corporation from 1979 to 1983 as a restyled replacement for the Gremlin. The Spirit shared the Gremlin's platform and was offered in two hatchback variations, each with two doors — marketed as sedan and liftback...
as the sporty "Rally AMX" and luxury "Rally SST." The Mexican version of the AMC Concord
AMC Concord
The AMC Concord is a compact car produced by the American Motors Corporation for the 1978 through 1983 model years. The Concord replaced the AMC Hornet and to some extent the mid-size AMC Matador, discontinued after 1978 in a market moving to downsized automobiles...
kept the "American" name, in base and GFS models. Some VAM models mixed and matched body components from U.S. cars. Examples of Mexican-only cars include a 1982 two-door "Hornet" with a 1977 Gremlin front clip. Later VAM models had no outward manufacturer identification, just a model name. Many of these carried slightly different engines, interiors, and model names than their counterparts in the United States and Canada, but were all based on U.S. bodies and used the same parts. Most bodies used the same year parts as U.S. production cars, but sometimes years and models were mixed. Some year model VAM built Gremlins, for example, used the AMC Hornet grille and front fenders, and the 1982 Hornet mentioned above.
VAM produced one original body not available in the U.S. or other markets, the VAM Lerma
VAM Lerma
The VAM Lerma was an automobile designed and manufactured by Vehiculos Automotores Mexicanos in the early 1980s. The car was based on two other vehicles by VAM's license partner American Motors ....
(named after the town the factory was in). The Lerma was a "cut and weld" built body. The rear hatchback portion of an AMC Spirit (or rather VAM Rally) was cut from the Spirit body grafted onto the longer wheelbase AMC Concord (VAM American). This idea was presented to AMC, but the labor cost to produce the car using the "cut and weld" method would have been cost prohibitive in the U.S., and sales of the aging Concord/Spirit (in production since 1970) were not up to adding a new body that would require unique panels to be pressed.
All VAM engines were of AMC design, but built in Mexico. Moreover, VAM added unique engineering features to deal with low octane
Octane rating
Octane rating or octane number is a standard measure of the anti-knock properties of a motor or aviation fuel. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating...
fuel and high altitudes. This included a 282 cu in (4.6 l) I6 engine
AMC Straight-6 engine
The American Motors Corporation straight-6 family of engines was used by a number of AMC and Jeep vehicles from 1964 through 2006.-195.6:American Motors' first straight-six engine was the...
(essentially a 258 block cast with a 0.16" larger bore) not available from AMC. The larger six helped counter high altitude/low octane fuel power loss and with the lack of a V8 engine
V8 engine
A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....
option in VAM produced vehicles.
In 1982, VAM's engineering department worked on a prototype Jeep XJ
Jeep XJ
Jeep's XJ platform is a compact unibody platform introduced in 1984 and retired in 2001.The following models used this architecture:* 1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee...
and fitted VAM's straight six into it (in place of AMC's four-cylinder or optional V6 from General Motors). AMC was impressed by the project, which eventually developed into the 4.0-liter engine version introduced in the 1987 Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
Jeep Cherokee (XJ)
The Jeep Cherokee is a unibody compact SUV. It shared the name of the original full-size SJ model, but without a body-on-frame chassis, it set the stage for the modern SUV. Its innovative appearance and sales popularity spawned important imitators as other automakers began to notice that this...
.