VW Promises "More Courageous" Design / New Beetle Redesign Still Go

[CoriBug]

Bring back the TDI already. Another blue is nice. I can't wait to see it.

[AceJay]

Originally Posted by CoriBug

Bring back the TDI already. Another blue is nice. I can't wait to see it.

Well, it will probably be this:



"Tossa Blue"

[marvins_dad]

Ran across yet another re-design looking for something else.

VW Beetle: All new Beetle will be more sporty, stylish

VW Beetle
VW is planning an all-new VW Beetle and it will be more manly!

Our insider said that the firm’s design department wants the newcomer to have “cleaner and meaner surfaces”, but he admitted that the project was not an easy one. “The architecture is timeless – to make it right is difficult,” he told us. “But unlike with the MINI, you will be able to tell the difference between the present model and the new one.”

Design proposals have already been submitted to the VW board for approval, and these include a cabin with better packaging, offering more space for occupants and luggage. Under the skin, the fresh model will be based around the modular chassis of the new MkVI Golf. As well as the coupé version shown here, there is likely to be a convertible variant, too.

VW Beetle: All new Beetle will be more sporty, stylish - The German Car Blog

I can dig this version...there are lots of customizing potential with the front grill (wouldn't want to keep that stock for more than a few weeks.)

[AbuNigel]

Hmmm. I think they fender lines need to be smoothed out with a more angular top. However i think the version above is a little too much like the Mini (the roof at least.)
Look at the audi TT, you can have a smooth round top line and keep it mean and sporty, just gotta do it right.

[antonym]

..gross!!

[Pushing Fifty]

The flat roof and short windows make it slightly resemble a Chrysler 300. The Beetle is meant to be ROUND. I'd like to see the NBII go back to the 98-05 fenders, too. I'll wait to see what happens when we finally see the final version before I pass sincere judgment.

[Bella Sera]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

The flat roof and short windows make it slightly resemble a Chrysler 300. The Beetle is meant to be ROUND. I'd like to see the NBII go back to the 98-05 fenders, too. I'll wait to see what happens when we finally see the final version before I pass sincere judgment.

I agree with everything you said!

[clickclack]

I like the Beetle, and always have but have never purchased one due to underpowered engine. I would like 200 HP just like the GTI. I would a 6 disk in dash cd player, not trunk mounted. I had a Jetta with a trunk mounted cd player and it had to be replaced twice = not cheap. A tad more of cargo space would be good too, enough to hold a golf bag (clubs included). If I was going to make a design change I would shave off a bit of top to give it a sleeker look (sort of TT style but not that low). Then add some features that are very girl friendly which are driver seat memory and temperature control and that would be my ideal car. I absolutely love the looks of the convertible, I call it the Bug-Vertible, but there is no trunk. Anyone who golfs knows you don't want your golf bag to be seen insde your car. Clubs are very expensive and you don't want them stolen.

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by marvins_dad

Ran across yet another re-design looking for something else.



VW Beetle: All new Beetle will be more sporty, stylish - The German Car Blog

I can dig this version...there are lots of customizing potential with the front grill (wouldn't want to keep that stock for more than a few weeks.)

I remember commenting about how one headlight is off and one is on... that's the only reason I know it's a repost.

[cmaricle]

Nooooooooooooooo! Do not radically change the design. If VW thinks they are going to complete against Honda / Nissan et. al. with a redesign, they are forgetting their core buyer. The Beetle must remain recognizable as a Beetle for the US market, in my humble opinion.

[2nd_BugMan]

Next Beetle to get bigger back seat: AutoWeek Magazine

[pdoel]

Looks like VW FINALLY released their official pictures of the next generation Beetle. Looks pretty good, and kept to the original design.

I hope this color makes it to production!

[elancee]

Could someone tell me what a "halo car" is? I haven't heard the term before.

[silverspeedbuggy]

Originally Posted by 2nd_BugMan

Next Beetle to get bigger back seat: AutoWeek Magazine

For those that don't want to click (from autoblog.com):

The "New Beetle" was a smash hit when it debuted in 1998, and the cutesy little Bug immediately jumped to sales of 83,434 the next year. Over the next 10 years, however, Volkswagen left the spiritual successor to the original Beetle out to dry, and sales have steadily dropped down to near nothingness. AutoWeek is reporting that Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of VW of America, confirmed at a press event in Germany that a long overdue redesign of the New Beetle is coming in 2012, and packaging will be vastly improved.

The current back seat of the New Beetle is a real problem being far too small and uncomfortable for a vehicle in the small car segment. Jacoby says the next Beetle will have a larger rear quarters and better packaging, without growing much beyond its current dimensions. Jacoby says the Beetle will also be used by VW as a kind of low-cost halo car, showing that the German automaker has returned to its roots of building cars for the people.

It's great that VW is finally getting around to making the next New Beetle, but with 14 years between redesigns, we're thinking VW needs to knock the next little Bug out of the park if it once again wants to catch the eye of the car-buying public.

[silverspeedbuggy]

Here's other news from last-ish week, also from autoblog:

We're in Wolfsburg, Germany right now for the launch drive of the 2010 Volkswagen Golf and we've just returned from a presentation at the company's design center with Walter de Silva. We'll have more on de Silva's comments a little later, but first, we did have a chance to chat with VW of America CEO Stefan Jacoby about future products.

First up, despite de Silva's promise that VW wont do retro designs, there is a new New Beetle coming. When the NB debuted a decade ago, we lamented the fact that it officially carried the "New" prefix (unfortunately, Autoblog was not yet born so no one at VW heard our complaints). This time around it will just be called "Beetle." Contrary to some speculation that it might move to the NSF platform of the forthcoming Up! model, the Beetle will still ride on the Golf's chassis when it appears in two years. Jacoby didn't say how the next Beetle might change to meet de Silva's "no retro" statement, but it will continue to fill VW's niche quotient.

[silverspeedbuggy]

So the 2012 NB will:
- not be retro
- be based on the MKVI Golf (or perhaps the MKVII Golf)
- have a bigger backseat
- be VW's low-cost halo* car

*elancee, a 'halo' car is a traditionally a car company's most stylish car. It's the car that most people should think of when you say the company's name. The Corvette or even the new Camaro are Chevy's halo cars, the Soul is Kia's halo car, the Cube or 370Z may be Nissan's halo cars, the TT is Audi's. Halo cars are that cars that usually help to define the rest of the brand whether that's in styling, performance, or both.

[CoriBug]

oh lord, I hope VW didn't butcher it i.e. any of the above renderings

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by silverspeedbuggy

the Cube or 370Z may be Nissan's halo cars, the TT is Audi's

Correction: GT-R and R8, respectively.

[silverspeedbuggy]

Originally Posted by FarrisK

Correction: GT-R and R8, respectively.

Oooh, yes!

Although the Soul and the Cube would equate better to the 'entry-level' halo car that the next Beetle will be (according to VWoA dude).

Also, did anyone notice they'll be dropping 'new' from the name; in 2012 it will just be a Volkswagen Beetle. Thank God.

[elancee]

Thanks for the definition and examples.