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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsVolkswagen to kill the Beetle in 2019
The Bug has been squashed.Volkswagen confirmed Thursday that it will end production of the Beetle in 2019, though it hinted that the car could one day be revived.
The future of the iconic Beetle had been a subject of speculation for months.
The German automaker has shifted its emphasis to SUVs and a range of still-to-come new electric cars ...
VW sold 15,166 Beetle models in the U.S. in 2017, down 3.2%. The current generation model has been in production in Puebla, Mexico, since 1997, VW said.
The 2019 Beetle will include convertible and coupe versions, each powered by 2-liter gas engines with 174 horsepower, a six-speed automatic transmission and average fuel economy of 29 miles per gallon. Pricing starts at $23,045 for the coupe and $27,295 for the convertible.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/09/13/volkswagen-beetle-killed/1293768002/
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Rhiannon12866
(205,784 posts)3catwoman3
(24,026 posts)...on my dad's pale blue VW bug. Forever soft spot for those little cars.
justgamma
(3,666 posts)LandOfHopeAndDreams
(872 posts)"Though it hinted that the car could one day be revived."
They'll wait for demand to build, then in a few years bring it back. It's all about the Mighty $$$$$$$$. If the money is there, they will build it. This is purely for PR purposes.
AncientGeezer
(2,146 posts)'72 Super Beetle.
I had 2 of of them as a kid...damn near bullet proof and would go anywhere.
MontanaMama
(23,334 posts)in a 72 Super Beetle that was my grand dads. I loved that car...it was Kansas Beige. It had the original stick shift knob with the castle and fox emblem on it. I still have that knob all these years later in the glove box of my 16 Hyundai Santa Fe. Its good juju and reminds me of my first car and my grandpa. <3
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)It was a right-hand drive, too ... and my mom and stepdad still own it to this day ... one of their 4 Morgans ...
If ya don't know what a Morgan is, watch the episode of "Comedians Driving In Cars Getting Coffee" ... the one where Jerry gets coffee with some obscure cat named ... Stephen Colbert.
But some of my other training on a stick came courtesy of my bio-dad ... in an Orange BEETLE! Think it was a 75 or 76 ... I recall it had some orange plastic on the taillights so it wasn't a vintage one ...
Grassy Knoll
(10,118 posts)Spider Jerusalem
(21,786 posts)he traded in a Datsun 240Z for it, which just makes me wonder "why?"
Grassy Knoll
(10,118 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)That was my 2nd-ever car, the first was a '73 Malibu/Chevelle 4 door my granny gave me ... it was a hideous yellow color too ... the year Chevelle's went to shit. But I still dug it cause it was a Chevelle. I put a Holley 4 barrel on it, beefy sway bar, gas shocks, some cool rims, and dual exhaust dumped at the rear axle ... despite it being a yellow 4-door ...
greyl
(22,990 posts)Btw, that's the car(and model year) Seinfeld chose for the Zach Galifianakis episode of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
TlalocW
(15,388 posts)Stopped manufacturing the old style bug. I later found out that you can't bring them into the country, but I always wanted to buy one and drive it back to America just so people would look at it and ask what year it was, I could honestly say, 1998 (or whatever year) to confuse them. We once crammed 12 people into a VW Bug taxi in Mexico City. They remove the passenger seat for easier entrance.
TlalocW
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)a six-speed automatic transmission
Then they wonder why real Beetle aficionados don't buy them.
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)The redesigned-again Mustang and the Charger have been popular among young and old alike.
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)It was really bare bones. No gas gauge so I had to use the tire iron to see how much fuel was left in the tank. The "heater" only warmed the car when it was moving. There was no fan. It was like a little tank in the snow.