VW had Bug factories in Mexico until 2003. It's not like they stopped making them in 1974. Also, it possible to build one from all after market parts for which there is an efficient supply chain. Nonetheless, most Central American countries do not allow cars older than 10 years to be imported. My friends bought several acres of land on the Belize coast where he wanted to build a resort. Before he left he bought a 1988 CJ Jeep which can also easily be built from all after market parts, so he move on his land. They wouldn't let him import it.

I mean, there is a 2017 Bettle: http://www.vw.com/models/beetle . But that's not what you see in rural areas (or even, cities other than the capital[1], in Mexico). Maybe not many from 1974, but 80's for sure. As for importing, I don't know the rules for Mexico, but that's not what I am talking about, there are old cars in the country already and the people that own them don't have the income to replace them unless they are at the point at which they are 100% not worth repairing, which is often more than the 30 years mark.

[1] The capital has super strict emission verification requirements on account of being in a former lake basin surrounded by mountains and boasting a 20-30 million population depending how you count...

The post-1998 US market Beetle is a completely different car from the original. (For starters, it has the engine in the front.)

But long after the original rear-engine design was discontinued in the US, they made them in Mexico for the domestic market there. They wouldn't pass crash standards and thus were illegal to import into the US (although people periodically tried, and I suspect if you were even slightly cagey about it, you could have made it work using an old hulk's VIN; there are certainly enough of them around in junkyards).

The last ones were made in late 2003, so they actually overlapped the production of the "New Beetle" by several years.

Interestingly, a decree prohibiting the issuance of taxi permits to 2-door vehicles reportedly contributed to the decline in sales, which shows you the role of government in killing off older products. They might still be made if not for that, just for the Mexico City taxi market.

They wouldn't pass emission tests for Mexico City for a while now, though (I was there when the ones already on the street started disappearing in favor of Tsuru there). But they were/are also very common in other cities in Mexico, even after new ones stopped being sold. I wasn't aware they made full Beetles until 2003, though I knew they made repair parts.