The VW New Beetle will not be replaced
- The Volkswagen Group confirmed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show that the New Beetle will not be replaced. Sales of this model, launched in 1998 and updated in 2011, did not meet VW objectives of 150,000 units per year, of which 100,000 in Europe.
- Indeed, the New Beetle sold only 60,000 units in 2017, compared to 90,000 in 2014 and 110,000 in 2013. The first generation launched in 1998 and marketed until 2011 sold 1,165,000 units in 13 years, or 90,000 units a year. The second generation launched in 2011 sold 522,000 units as of the end of 2017, and Inovev estimates that sales of this model will reach 150,000 units between 2018 and 2022, when the model is likely to be discontinued. This second generation will therefore have sold 672,000 units over its 11-year life cycle, or 60,000 units per year.
- The results achieved by both generations of the Volkswagen New Beetle are therefore far removed from VW’s 150,000 /year objectives. In Europe, sales of the first generation of the New Beetle have never exceeded 45,000 /year, and that of the second generation 35,000 / year. The New Beetle may have suffered from the ”internal” competition of the VW Golf which has a better set of features and benefits than the New Beetle, which has been condemned to being a niche vehicle.
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