VW Needs to Bring Back the Beetle as an Affordable EV.
VW is in trouble. Again. it seems every few years the German giant has to either reverse course or change things around. At least in the US, their current models are all pretty boring and don’t really offering anything better or different. In Europe they are getting ready to lay off tons of people and shut down factories. And things are that rosy in China either. What they need is a cool inexpensive car. A new generation Beetle. It seems obvious to anyone but Vw itself. In Europe, Renault has just launched the super cute retro/modern Renault Twingo EV. Which is not hiding its 1992 roots from the first-generation Twingo. Citroen is getting a new 2 CV ready. And what is VW doing with the one that stated it all, the Beetle? Nothing…
The Twingo is actually Renault’s third retro EV. The new Renault 4 and Renault 5 are also heavily influenced by their decade-old predecessors. And I think it’s a great idea. And something VW needs to do.
An old European brand like VW has a huge advantage over the onslaught of new Chinese models currently invading the European market, and it’s its long history. VW has the Beetle. Something unique that has been beloved for decades around the world, and they’re doing absolutely nothing with it.
Instead, they have decided to revive the Polo for the electric age with the ID. Polo. A small, inexpensive EV hatchback. While the Polo is nice, it is very bland compared to what a new Beetle EV could be. And even next to these new Renaults. VW needs to come up with a way to bring back the Beetle as an EV based on the new ID. Polo platform. This time around, instead of making it a more expensive fashion statement like the New Beetle was, it should be even cheaper than the ID.Polo.
The VW brand should always have a Beetle in their lineup, in one form or another. An affordable Beetle EV would be a true car of the people, once again. Everywhere.
The illustrations shows a Beetle with 4 doors. Which is what it would have to be to get any decent sale numbers. However, I would rather see perfectly round headlights myself. (Matching the rear ones). However, it seems VW is against these for some odd reason. Even the ID.Buzz doesn’t have them. I guess that makes the illustrations above even more realistic in their imperfection…