Car Maker Hopes Beetle Mania Will Return to the U.S.
Herbie the Love Bug is about to ride again--this time with anti-lock brakes and dual front and side air bags.
Nearly two decades after the last newly built Volkswagen Beetle was sold in the United States, Volkswagen is launching what it calls “the new Beetle.”
The cute, four-seat coupe is scheduled to go on sale in spring after debuting at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January.
While the 1999 model shares the same oddball shape and a few other quirky, Bug-esque touches, the resemblance is only sheet-metal deep.
The original German-made Beetle was truly a “people’s car” (the English translation of “volks wagen”)--designed in the 1930s as simple, inexpensive transportation for the masses.
The same isn’t true of the new Beetle, which was designed in California and will be assembled in Mexico.
“It is not a car we will sell in mass volumes, like the previous car,” said Tony Fouladpour, spokesman for Volkswagen of America Inc. “It will be a car for people who want to distinguish themselves, something that’s very different and in keeping with VW’s tradition of being different.”
The new Beetle will be aimed primarily at baby boomers with nostalgic memories of the old model. VW also hopes the car’s new offbeat look and bright colors will lure younger drivers born after the Beetle craze, but the price may keep some first-time car buyers away.
VW is expected to price the car between $15,000 and $18,000. That compares with the $3,599 list price for the ’77 coupe and $6,495 for the ’79 convertible--the last Bug sold here.
The new Beetle is essentially a VW Golf with a different shell. The exterior design is based on the hit Concept 1 show car that debuted at the Detroit auto show in 1994. Inside will be a mix of modern safety, luxury and performance features that weren’t part of the original Beetle.
Gone is the original Bug’s unconventional air-cooled, rear-mounted engine driving the rear wheels. The new car will be powered by any of three modern, liquid-cooled, four-cylinder engines, including an optional direct-injection turbodiesel. The engine will be up front, driving the front wheels.
While the old engine was economical and easy to fix, it also was slow and noisy. But die-hard Beetle fans consider it the soul of the Beetle.
“They think the old air-cooled, rear-engine Beetle is the only real Beetle,” said former Beetle owner James Flammang, author of “Volkswagen: Beetles, Buses and Beyond.” “I suspect there will be more interest in the new Beetle from people who are not serious, original-Beetle enthusiasts.”
The new Beetle will include standard dual front and side air bags and anti-lock brakes. It is larger inside and out than its predecessor, though the back seat and trunk are tighter than the Golf’s.
Still, the new Beetle borrows some nice retro touches from the old Bug, such as the big round speedometer and gauge pod, the bulbous fenders, the passenger grab handle and built-in running boards.
Another funky touch, borrowed from the show car: a dashboard bud vase.
The decision to resurrect the Beetle marks a big change for a company that for years tried, with limited success, to divorce itself from its econocar heritage that began with the humble Bug.
At the same time, transforming the Beetle into a sophisticated retro-cool car for boomers fits into Chairman Ferdinand Piech’s strategy to position VW as an upscale but more affordable alternative to Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
In the United States, that strategy seems somewhat at odds with VW’s successful effort to target younger buyers with its irreverent “Drivers Wanted” campaign. VW’s U.S. sales were up 6% in the first half of this year.
“It seems like the strategy they want to put in place would abandon what they’ve done so well here with Generation X,” said Wes Brown, an analyst with Nextrend in Thousand Oaks, Calif. “But the United States is one of VW’s smallest markets, and it makes no sense for its worldwide strategy to reflect the United States alone.”
Steve Wilhite, marketing chief for Volkswagen of America, said VW is targeting a lifestyle--”people of all ages and incomes who have a zest for life”--rather than just Generation Xers.
“This car is consistent with that,” Wilhite said. “It’s unpretentious and friendly. It’s going to attract the same kind of people who are attracted to our brand today.”
The new Beetle is the second step in a complete make-over of VW’s North American lineup. A new Passat debuts in the fall, followed by the Beetle, a redesigned Jetta next summer or fall, and then the new Golf.
VW plans to begin building the new Beetle next to the old one at its Puebla, Mexico, plant and may add production later if demand warrants it, probably in Germany. It plans to produce about 200,000 units in the first year, of which 50,000 will be allocated to the United States and Canada.
