Why Volkswagen May Not Be Interested In Bringing The Beetle Back

At a recent round table discussion at the LA Auto Show, Volkswagen revealed that it doesn’t have any concrete plans to bring the Beetle back to life. Instead, VW wants to make more GTI and R products, which is a nice consolation prize. Should we be sad, however? Was the Beetle even a success, and, more importantly, was it even fun to live with? It’s main rival in the rather niche retro-styled compact hatch segment was the Mini Cooper Hardtop 2-door. But the Mini is still on sale and is already in its fourth-generation since the Germans at BMW took over.

In contrast, the New Beetle only lasted two generations; so what went wrong? Well, that’s what we’re here to discover, and luckily your faithful correspondent has driven every version – including the weird quasi-off-road Dune version VW tried to sell at the very end of its life.

The New Beetle

Like the first-generation of the modern Mini, the New Beetle was a smash hit. It debuted as a concept in 1994 and went into production in 1997, beating the Mini hatch by a full four years. By the time the Mini came out, VW had already sold more than 400,000 New Beetles. There was obviously a massive market for cars with a retro twist, and people were more than willing to sacrifice space and practicality for some fun. For the same amount of money, you could purchase the MK4 Golf, which used the same platform and engines. But the Golf was about as interesting as an hour-long lecture about how aglets aren’t appreciated enough.

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Despite the most powerful model having 180 horsepower at its disposal, the car was never anywhere close to being a hot hatch. Apart from the limited-edition Beetle RSi, which was an extremely expensive and highly-tuned track-ready machine, the New Beetle was semi-fast in a straight line and that was good enough. It was very much like the Audi TT of the same vintage: If you wanted a sharp driving experience, you went somewhere else. But if you wanted to feel like a million bucks and more stylish than the cast of High School Musical, no other car did it better.

It was such a smash hit that Volkswagen never bothered to mess with the recipe. The car was on sale between 1998 and 2010, with only one significant facelift for the 2006 model year. When production ended before the final generation Beetle was introduced in 2012, VW had sold more than 1.2 million.

How Did It Fare Against The Mini?

The New Beetle was on sale for two generations of the modern Mini. The first-generation sold 800,000 units during its first five years on sale. By the time the New Beetle went out of production, Mini had built an entire range of cars around the brand, which pushed sales to just over 300,000 units per year. By 2005, the Mini was comfortably outselling the New Beetle. A bad month for Mini (back when it was just one model) was 50,000 units, while the best year for the New Beetle on record was just over 36,000 units.

The Mini was also retro-cool, but it was massive fun to drive, and you didn’t even have to go for the supercharged model to have fun. The base model with a naturally-aspirated engine had an ideal power to weight ratio, while the JCW supercharged models were a riot. Both cars were impractical, so most customers thought they might as well spend their money on the one that was more fun.

The New New Beetle (A5)

Volkswagen followed the same recipe with the second-generation New Beetle as the first. It was based on the PQ35 platform, also used by the Golf Mk5 and Mk6, the second-gen Audi TT, and the magnificent Mk3 Scirocco, which was never sold in the USA. That’s a pretty good platform to start with, but VW never gave the Beetle the proper go-faster treatment it needed to take the fight to Mini. At most, the Beetle was only blessed with 174 hp from a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot, which was a far cry from what you got in the Mk5 and Mk6 GTIs.

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In addition to having to contend with just Mini, which by now had an entire range of models all boasting retro design, the A5 Beetle was also facing strong competition from within America. In the USA, we could choose between the Beetle and base models of the Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger, and Chevrolet Camaro. All of these cars were within spitting distance in terms of price. And as if that wasn’t enough, there were modern contenders like the Ford Fiesta ST. It didn’t have retro styling, but if you wanted the ultimate front-wheel drive hot hatch experience for roughly $20k, nothing could touch Ford’s angry little hatch.

Volkswagen Tried To Broaden The Beetle’s Appeal

VW showcased a Beetle R, but it never went into production. It introduced the Beetle Dune as a sort of crossover, but it wasn’t ever lifted enough to clear the average mall parking lot curb, so it was useless. Perhaps if VW had expanded the Beetle name into a range of products like Mini, it would still be around today, but alas. Retro design will only get you so far, and VW learned that lesson the hard way.

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The second-generation sold just over 500,000 units during its entire production run. It was clear that modern customers demanded more from their cars, and they didn’t even have to go outside a VW dealership to find a better alternative. If you wanted fast and practical, you purchased a GTI. If you wanted a crossover, you went for a Tiguan. And if you wanted something that looked good and provided a driving experience on par with the Mk5 GTI, the Scirocco was just the thing. As mentioned, it was never sold in the USA, but we’re talking about global figures.

The Beetle died because it had run its course. In the end, it had nothing to offer but retro design, and that simply wasn’t enough.

Is Retro Design Dead?

Nope. If anything, it’s doing better than ever before. Cars with a vintage design currently on sale include the Nissan Z, Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport, Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the evergreen Wrangler, the Ford Mustang, and, of course, Mini’s entire range.

The difference between these cars and the last generation Beetle is that they also had substance, while the Beetle only had design. It only had one thing going for it, and the modern customer rightfully demands more. The ball is in Volkswagen’s court if it wants to bring the Beetle back to life – but it’ll have to come with more than just cutesy looks.

Sources:
Volkswagen, Mini