UPDATE 1-Mexico's non-U.S. bound exports shielding economy

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By Jason Lange

PUEBLA, Mexico, April 30 (Reuters) - Mexican exporters, long dependent on American consumers, are ramping up sales to once-ignored markets such as Europe and Brazil and are helping shield Mexico's economy from a feared U.S. recession.

Volkswagen's (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) plant in Mexico, built four decades ago just east of the Mexican capital, once focused on selling its Jetta and Golf models to Americans.

But last year, the plant sent more cars to Europe than to the United States for the first time. On a recent afternoon, workers attached doors as robots welded together hoods for Jettas that will mostly be sent to Europe, Asia and South America.

The company expects Americans to buy less than a third of the automobiles made at the plant in 2008.

"We are in a much better position, considering that there are markets like the United States where demand is falling," said Thomas Karig, a Volkswagen spokesman.

Across Mexico, producers of everything from heavy machinery to fuse boxes are boosting sales to markets other than the United States.

Growth in exports to those countries now far outpaces expansion in U.S.-bound exports, and America's slice of Mexican exports has dropped to about 80 percent from 90 percent a decade ago.