We just received this news from Volkswagen. TL;DR? The Beetle is dead after the 2019 model year.
Is the Beetle really gone forever, or just skipping a few years of production? Sure, that's happened before–U.S. sales of the original Beetle ended in 1979–but this announcement marks the first time that production of the Beetle has stopped worldwide (assuming you consider …
Sometimes a model just runs its course and after most people who want one have one, it needs to end for awhile. Especially one that is such a "niche" model.
In a decade or less, we'll get an EV Beetle.
I feel old. I remember the last time that was a headline.
I had heard it would require a major redesign and that a 3rd Retro Beetle didn't really seem right as even this New Beetle design is now 20 yrs old.
Can the New New Beetle be a production Fun Cup car?
My first two cars were AC VWs, so I have a strong affection for them. The "new" beetle just didn't do anything for me.
A new beetle as a cheeky low cost EV might work well. VW is already bringing back the bus as an EV.
In reply to Vigo :
I'd agree. The overall shape is simply too iconic to go away forever. It just needs a few years for folks to get nostalgic again.
I didn't grow up in the first gen's era but surely much of its popularity and lasting power was due to its modding versatility, right? That and affordability. Neither of those were the case with the new ones. IMO they were rolling half off of nostalgia and half off of cute. The question then is how much nostalgia will kids have in 20 years for the cutesy car from the 90s? Or will its design still be a staple of Americana and sell accordingly
I was always startled by how much I liked seeing the current A5 generation of Beetle in the wild. It's a shame that the cutesy New Beetle version ever happened.
It was pretty clear they where struggling with it just from a design perspective. That slightly squashed on and slightly squared fender thing they did a few years ago just seemed to be change for change sake.
Just like the original design, there really is no need or good way to change the design as it was. The only significant design changes in the original Beetle (ignoring required safety changes) were changes to the size of the windows.
Porsche and VW are under the same umbrella and the 911 is still being made right?
The newest version is a horrible squashed thing anyway
captdownshift said:Porsche and VW are under the same umbrella and the 911 is still being made right?
Yes, they call it the Cayman.
A MkIV NB was one of the few times I was happy to lose money when selling a car.
The New Beetle never got the numbers VW first hoped for
It was very expensive in Europe compared to a Golf ( same running gear)
And to an Air Cooled VW crowd it never became part of the family ,
I went to 3 of the VW Factories building the Aircooled bug , Germany , Mexico and Brazil , but never even though about going to the Mexico Factory to see the New Beetle built ,
VW is now trying to improve its image with EVs , so no place for a New Beetle 3
aircooled said:It was pretty clear they where struggling with it just from a design perspective. That slightly squashed on and slightly squared fender thing they did a few years ago just seemed to be change for change sake.
Just like the original design, there really is no need or good way to change the design as it was. The only significant design changes in the original Beetle (ignoring required safety changes) were changes to the size of the windows.
The latest version looks closer to the original design than the previous gen
The Beetle is one of those cars that inspire the thought, "They still build Beetles?"
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Maybe raise it up and create a crossover - New Baja Bug!
I occasionally spot a GSR in the city. They've always looked cool. 
We love our 2014 convertible. Dam near a perfect empty nester car. Other then a few window regulator alignment issues its been dare I say almost perfect over the last 30K miles.
I would love to upgrade to a R convertible for the wife but I have never even seen one in the wild. Local dealer told me they were special order only but the DSG and the bigger stereo with the touch screen would be nice.
The world of the automobile would be a bit weird without the Beetle in some (most likely EV) form... I mean, we're talking about a nameplate older than the Corvette, Mustang, Land Cruiser, Corolla, Falcon, Civic, etc... Hell, it's roughly as old as the Jeep!
I bet we'll see it again, eventually. Then again, I've heard the same about the Bus / Type 2 for probably 20 or so years now too, and we have yet to see anything but concepts in that department.
Trouble with lifting the thing and calling it a crossover would likely be the lack of rear doors that are apparently a requirement of all common vehicles these days...
The "new" beetle always struck me as a car that neither had the performance of a low-volume GT car, nor the versatility of similar-sized hatchbacks like the Golf. It was there just for nostalgia and for people to get silly vanity license plates, but there never seemed to be any kind of practical reason to actually get one.
I've considered many, many random cars as purchases over the years - even ones that either sucked or made no sense. The new beetle is something that I never considered getting, not for a single second. Then again, I'm not a teenage girls, so....
irish44j said:The "new" beetle always struck me as a car that neither had the performance of a low-volume GT car, nor the versatility of similar-sized hatchbacks like the Golf. It was there just for nostalgia and for people to get silly vanity license plates, but there never seemed to be any kind of practical reason to actually get one.
I learned to drive powersliding a '71 Super Beetle around gravel roads in rural Mississippi, which gave me a primal attraction to the early Beetles. I think if they would have made the new Beetle with the engine properly in the rear of the car, sort of a poor-man's 911, then there would have been a great reason to get one. Every time I see a new Beetle, I can't help think what could have been, but as it is, just a re-bodied FWD Golf chassis, what's the point?
Growing up on Long Island in the '70s, Beetles were among the few foreign cars seen on our roads. We had a few in our neighborhood. (Although, oddly, my parents had a Toyota Corona and a Spitfire in the early '70s.)
You'll need to log in to post.
