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MEXICO CITY -- Volkswagen assembled 222,451 vehicles at its plant in Puebla, Mexico, in the first six months, 25.7 percent more than in the first half of 2007.

Of the total, 187,276 units, or 84 percent, were exported. That is 20 percent more than in the same period of 2007, when 144,185 vehicles were exported.

In a statement e-mailed Thursday, July 3, VW said it is on track to smash the Mexican plant's full-year production record of 425,700 vehicles, set in 2000.

The Puebla plant has a capacity of 450,000 vehicles a year, or 1,800 cars a day, the current assembly rate. It employs 11,000 hourly workers out of a total work force of 16,000.

In the first six months, Puebla produced 99,843 Jettas, known in Mexico as Boras, plus 54,195 SportWagens, 39,983 former-generation Jettas and 28,430 New Beetles.