VW News: There Will Not Be A Successor to the Volkswagen Beetle

[William Maley]

Rumors about the demise of the Volkswagen Beetle have been flying around for the past few years, but we finally have confirmation that it is ending.

Volkswagen's R&D boss, Frank Welsch tells Autocar that there will not be a replacement for the Beetle. Welsch said "two or three generations is enough now" for the model and that the upcoming I.D. Buzz will take the place of the Beetle. No timeframe was given as to when Beetle production would end.

The news isn't so shocking when you take a look at the Beetle's sales numbers which have been in freefall since 2013,

• 2013: 43,134
• 2014: 29,182
• 2015: 22,667
• 2016: 15,667
• 2017: 15,166

It should be mentioned that Volkswagen brand boss Herbert Diess hinted back in October that the Beetle could go full electric, but we're not holding our breath on that.

Source: Autocar

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[G. David Felt]

CUV is King and the Bug's time has come to die. Lifestyle makes the bug not desirable by people and that shows in the sales numbers. Hail the New King, CUV!

[daves87rs]

Makes me a bit sad...always thought they were kinda cool...

[Robert Hall]

Not really my thing, but they were 2drs and had character...not generic enough in today's market, alas. 

[balthazar]

VW (somehow) made $5 billion profit in 2016. They should keep the Beetle going just as an icon/symbol.

[ocnblu]

A terrible decision.  And it is laughable at best that the stupid I.D. Buzz will take the place of anything beloved at Volkswagen.  I guarantee you it will sell even less than the Beetle currently musters.  The drop in Beetle sales is mostly VW's fault, as they've stripped the car of interesting powertrains... automatic only... no TDi... high-powered turbos are by order only, last time I checked.  Dune... no manual in the Dune?  Preposterous and self-defeating.  VW people love manual transmissions.

 

VW better save their money because this wholesale push toward electrification is going to fall flat as a pancake.  Even flatter than the classic Beetle's pancake 4.  No one has proved to me that people will buy electric vehicles in any kind of sustainable numbers without taxpayer prop-ups.

[G. David Felt]

15 hours ago, ocnblu said:

A terrible decision.  And it is laughable at best that the stupid I.D. Buzz will take the place of anything beloved at Volkswagen.  I guarantee you it will sell even less than the Beetle currently musters.  The drop in Beetle sales is mostly VW's fault, as they've stripped the car of interesting powertrains... automatic only... no TDi... high-powered turbos are by order only, last time I checked.  Dune... no manual in the Dune?  Preposterous and self-defeating.  VW people love manual transmissions.

 

VW better save their money because this wholesale push toward electrification is going to fall flat as a pancake.  Even flatter than the classic Beetle's pancake 4.  No one has proved to me that people will buy electric vehicles in any kind of sustainable numbers without taxpayer prop-ups.

And you continue to FEAR that CHANGE is inevitable. Buyers are NOT Buying Manuals, Buyers are not buying Bugs, Personal Choice of lifestyle has made CUV the king now, fact supported by Sales Numbers.

Yes everything is probably paid for so that they could continue to produce their small number of bugs, but then the assembly line is needed to produce other items that have bigger desire by the public.

As Drew stated, Choice is what will finally have EVs take off and that is coming. Lucky for you your job will still be around due to idiots crashing their EV's no different than ICE auto's. Repairs must be made.

[balthazar]

Beetle, even last year, outsold the vast majority of PHEV/EV models. There are hybrid/electrics selling in the SINGLE DIGITS monthly right now. Not every vehicle business case has to work if the parent company is solidly profitable. I'm in no way a potential customer, but JEERS to VW if they Pull the Plug on the Bug.

[G. David Felt]

14 hours ago, balthazar said:

Beetle, even last year, outsold the vast majority of PHEV/EV models. There are hybrid/electrics selling in the SINGLE DIGITS monthly right now. Not every vehicle business case has to work if the parent company is solidly profitable. I'm in no way a potential customer, but JEERS to VW if they Pull the Plug on the Bug.

Great tag on the end!!!

[Frisky Dingo]

Sales have dropped because it's not as fresh, and they have culled the models of interest to male buyers and enthusiasts.

The writing was on the wall for the car for some time, but it's still sad to see. In the grand scheme of things, its sales really weren't all that bad. Killing off the car and name entirely is a mistake.

[G. David Felt]

12 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

Sales have dropped because it's not as fresh, and they have culled the models of interest to male buyers and enthusiasts.

The writing was on the wall for the car for some time, but it's still sad to see. In the grand scheme of things, its sales really weren't all that bad. Killing off the car and name entirely is a mistake.

But as we have already seen, this is not a death for ever of the bug and they clearly can bring it back when there is more demand, but at this point the bulk of society that wants a bug has a bug and the larger more profitable market has moved onto CUV's and clearly a demand for the VW Bus again or aka ID Buzz.

[ccap41]

It's kind of sad because it's probably one of the(if not THE) most iconic branded vehicles out there. Everybody and their brother knows what a VW Beetle is. I don't see if going away forever though. Maybe a little vacation to brew up some more demand then plop it down on the next Golf platform again, whenever that is. 

[balthazar]

Another angle: Beetle sold 15K in 2017 - the entire 5-model MINI brand only sold 47K- and Mini has to support dealerships on it own.

[ocnblu]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

It's kind of sad because it's probably one of the(if not THE) most iconic branded vehicles out there. Everybody and their brother knows what a VW Beetle is. I don't see if going away forever though. Maybe a little vacation to brew up some more demand then plop it down on the next Golf platform again, whenever that is. 

But it must be powered by an ICE or else it will be a toy, just like all the rest of the EVs.

[ccap41]

18 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

But it must be powered by an ICE or else it will be a toy, just like all the rest of the EVs.

Ehhhh I don't think it HAS to be ICE powered and depending on how long of a break VW is taking from it will be more telling if it will come back as an ICE or not. 

[daves87rs]

8 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Ehhhh I don't think it HAS to be ICE powered and depending on how long of a break VW is taking from it will be more telling if it will come back as an ICE or not. 

Maybe both? 

[ccap41]

9 hours ago, daves87rs said:

Maybe both? 

I think that's more likely.