Rumors of the demise of the Volkswagen Beetle appear to have been greatly exaggerated, or at least, unfounded. Volkswagen officials say the Beetle will return in the next few years, underpinned by the superb MQB platform and with a new emotional, dynamic design.
Aside from the use of my two least favorite industry buzzwords, I’m glad to hear Volkswagen’s most important historic nameplate won’t be killed off amid slow sales, as has been reported in the European press.
Volkswagen’s R&D board member Heinz-Jakob Neusser told Autoblog that a new generation of Beetle using the MQB platform is on the way in the next three years. With the MQB platform, which underpins the new Golf, Audi S3 and many others, the Beetle also has the potential for electric and hybrid models, they report.
It will also look more interesting, which is what VW wants to do moving forward:
The Beetle “will remain an emotional design,” Neusser told Autoblog. That said, it will be “developed in a new design language,” in keeping with Volkswagen’s plans to offer “much more dynamic, much more emotional” designs on its future cars.
MQB is good and all, but I’m still hoping VW will see the light and make it an ultra cheap rear-engined city car instead.
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