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Volkswagen Beetle Might Be Phased Out by the End of 2018

Volkswagen’s iconic Beetle might be discontinued again, and the explanations behind the rumors make sense.
Selection of VW Beetle models 1 photo
Photo: Volkswagen
The Wolfsburg brand revived the Beetle in 1998, on a Golf IV platform, and the model got a second generation in 2011. The latter was also based on a Golf platform, but it appears it will not get a replacement soon.

It has all started with a tweet from Autoline, which claims that Volkswagen will stop making the Beetle at the end of 2018. The original poster has mentioned that sales of the iconic German car are slowing to a trickle, and Volkswagen will focus on crossovers.

Road and Track developed the story, and contacted Volkswagen representatives. The latter replied that they "do not comment on media speculation," which is a regular practice for most carmakers.

However, the lack of comments on behalf of Volkswagen’s representatives could also be interpreted as a chance of the rumors being true.

After all, the second generation of the "New" Beetle is not a best-seller, and Volkswagen is currently mulling the nameplate through special editions. Meanwhile, the international car market is focused on the trend of SUV-like crossovers, and the German brand is not as developed as its competitors in this segment.

Volkswagen does have the production capacity required to introduce new models in its range without eliminating the Beetle, but the German automaker must rationalize its spending in the coming years so they can recover from the Dieselgate scandal. Since the flagship Phaeton was delayed again and Volkswagen appears to be ditching ineffective models as far as sales are concerned, it would not come as a surprise for the German brand to stop building the Beetle.

Fortunately, for the fans of the iconic design, the end of 2018 would be a reasonable date to stop building this car. After all, if you are such a big fan of the Beetle, you still have time to save money and buy one, and the second-hand market is filled with the first and second generations of the revived Beetle. Meanwhile, the original model is becoming rarer and rarer, as most examples have been scrapped due to rust and other issues.

 

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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