Auf Wiedersehen, Beetle! VW ditches icon
IT can stake a claim to be one of the most popular cars ever produced, with more than 21million vehicles made since the Second World War.
But the VW Beetle has finally reached the end of the road.
Manufacturers Volkswagen announced last night that it would end production of the car in 2019 – after releasing a pair of final editions.
The move came as the German firm said it would be putting more resources into electric cars and larger family-oriented vehicles.
But Hinrich Woebcken, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America, left the door open to reviving the Beetle at a later date, alluding to the company’s 2017 decision to unveil a revamped Volkswagen Bus as a possible template.
‘The loss of the Beetle after three generations, over nearly seven decades, will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans,’ he said. Mr Woebcken said there are ‘no immediate plans’ to replace the Beetle, but added: ‘Never say never.’ VW wants to offer the two final editions of the Beetle in both coupe and convertible styles. The cars will include nods to earlier versions and be priced from $23,045 (€19,700), the company said.
The announcement marks the end of an unrivalled era of success for the much-loved model.
Its styling made it a huge hit with the hippie movement of the 1960s and it was immortalised by the character Herbie the Love Bug in the 1968 Disney film. By the time the last original Beetles were made in Mexico in 2003, as many as 21.5 million had been built worldwide.
But the vehicle had a dark past, as it was originally conceived following a meeting between Adolf Hitler and Porsche in 1934.
The Nazi dictator wanted a small
Vehicle had a dark past
saloon that could carry German families at up to 100kph along the country’s new autobahns.
The name ‘Volkswagen’ – meaning ‘People’s Car’ – was supposed to make Germans buy into Hitler’s grand designs for the Fatherland.
But the start of the Second World War put manufacturing on hold, and it was not until 1945 that the Beetle went into production.