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Jim, "CKD" is a commonly used acronym in the automotive industry to losely describe vehicles that are assembled from kits packed in boxes by a parent manufacturer and sent to another factory for assembly. One of the aims of this process has been to reduce import tariffs by involving local labour and local component suppliers as much as possible. So, the degree to which a completely knocked down vehicle is shipped in boxes has varied tremendously and has depended very much on the ability of the industries in the assembling country to supply components. Thus, some kits have included just about everything even paint, tyres and batteries while others have included much less. However, CKD operations, whether conducted by VW, Ford, Mitsubishi or other manufacturers, usually involve major and often more sophisticated components (like engines and gearboxes) already assembled at a parent factory. In the case of 1968 to 1974 CKD-assembled VW Type 3s in Australia, major components like motors, transaxles, front axle beams, etc were already built-up, complete and supplied in boxes from Germany because VW had already sold its Australian non-ferrous foundry and its presses to another manufacturer. I don't want to labour the point but the term "CKD" is not mine and to try to break it down semantically could become unecessarily pedantic. Thus, for example, for many years Passats (or Dashers as sold in USA) were fully manufactured in the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg in Germany but with many of the engines fully built-up and supplied by the Volkswagen do Brasil Ltda factory at Sao Bernardo do Campo in Brazil. In this case, the parent factory was supplied by a daughter company! Kind regards, Simon Glen. Jim Adney wrote: > On 29 Mar 2001, at 20:47, Simon Glen wrote: > > > (CKD=completely knocked down) > > Wouldn't it be better to say: Complete, knocked down? > > My guess is that major assemblies like engines, transmissions, > front axles, steering columns, etc. were shipped fully assembled, > as opposed to "completely knocked down." Do you know if this is > true or not? > > Then again, you have indicated that what was shipped to Aus. was > not even "complete," so perhaps neither wording is completely > accurate in this case. > > - > Jim Adney > jadney@vwtype3.org > Madison, WI 53711-3054 > USA > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list or mailto:help@vwtype3.org