VW’s Beetle is going out of production after current generation
We’ll be saying goodbye to the Volkswagen Beetle (again) when it reaches the end of its current generation, stopping production instead of being refreshed with an electric drivetrain as once rumoured.
VW is instead looking to bring a production version of its ID Buzz electric concept to market around 2021 or 2022, a van-style vehicle stylistically inspired by the company’s Type 2 Transporter Microbus model, Autocar magazine confirms.
“Two or three generations (of the Beetle) is enough now,” the publication quoted Frank Welsch, head of R & D for the automaker, in an interview at the Geneva Motor Show. “You can’t do it five times and have a ‘New New New Beetle.’ ”
The Volkswagen New Beetle was (re)born in 1997, a retro-inspired coupe penned by renowned designer J Mays, and was succeeded in 2011 by the longer, lower and wider A5-generation car known simply as the Beetle, which is still in production. VW’s new MEB electric-car platform is apparently what has finally made it possible to bring a new Microbus to production, explained Welsch.
“We had all these Microbus concepts in the past but all were frontengined,” he told Autocar. “The physicality of bringing it on MQB or PQ -something (platforms) to life does not work.”
“With MEB, you can do a bus and be an authentic vehicle with the original shape, and steering wheel mounted like the original.”
The production Microbus will likely not hit dealerships for another three or four years, but it’s uncertain if the Beetle will stick around that long, considering it’s already seven years old, which is roughly the life cycle for most new car models.