In what year was the 20 millionth Volkswagen Beetle produced? 1981. On 15 May 1981, the 20 millionth Beetle rolled off the production line at Volkswagen de México in Puebla. The milestone made the Beetle the first automobile to surpass 20 million units produced, a remarkable achievement for a design that had originated in the 1930s.
By then, production in Germany had already ended. The Wolfsburg plant built its final Beetle in 1974, and the last European sedan was completed at Emden in January 1978. Mexican production kept the classic model alive, serving domestic buyers and selected export markets while Volkswagen introduced newer, front-engine, water-cooled models elsewhere.
The anniversary car was associated with a special Silver Bug edition. The milestone is sometimes confused with the Beetle’s 1972 production record, when it surpassed the Ford Model T as the world’s best-selling automobile. Those are different achievements: 1972 marked the record for total production at that time, while 1981 marked the 20-million milestone. Beetle production ultimately reached more than 21.5 million cars worldwide before ending in 2003.