New Beetle Final Edition

[Pushing Fifty]

Are you guys absolutely sure that this isn't the end of the New Beetle for good? My sister claims on the news that VW announced the last New Beetles would be released this coming spring. These "Final Editions" and other Limited editions such as the Barbie Beetle and the Triple White vert and that Blush edition are very suggestive of a total killing of the model forever.The same thing happened in the original Beetle's final days. We had the Sun Bug, the El Grande Bug, etc. Also consider this: While the Jetta and Golf evolved into the MKV and have diesel options, the NB is still on a MKIV and diesel was dropped years ago. Why? I hope to God this isn't so, but look at how sales have tanked. When it first came out in 1998, they were selling 80K units a year. After 2001, it fell by half, and for 2009 so far, they're down to 13,000. I think there is a strong possibility that the New Beetle in any form is dead. I hope I'm wrong.

[SMG]

What isn't clear about a FINAL Edition and a press release stating that they are killing it?

[akasha1963]

This is what CNN posted in their review of the LA Car Show. I sure hope this isnt true.


Best of the L.A. Auto Show
7 of 9 - Volkswagen Beetle Final Edition

In 2003 Volkswagen produced a run of old-style Beetles in a plant in Mexico, the last place in the world where the old Beetles were still made, called the "Ultima Edicion," of "Final Edition."

The light blue Beetles marked the end of an era. After 70 years in continuous production, the old-style rear-engined Beetle would be no more.

Now, after a much shorter run of just 12 years, the ens has come for the New Beetle. So Volkswagen unveiled the powder-blue and white Final Edition New Beetle at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The cars will be available in both convertible and hard-top forms. Both will have sport suspension and 150-horsepower five-cylinder engines. They'll get 29 mpg on the highway and 20 in the city.

[1of130]

Oh well...I guess the rumors may come true.
I heard from a VW dealership owner/friend that the NB is on its way out for the production of the Up series...and the cue was the final edition beetle. Oh well. Looks like that may be it. Although, Im pretty psyched about the new up series vehicles.
Linky http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publi...cle_2686.shtml

[Pushing Fifty]

Originally Posted by SMG

What isn't clear about a FINAL Edition and a press release stating that they are killing it?

There are many on here that insist that merely the 1st GENERATION of the NB has come to an end and that a new design will arrive in 2012. So which is it? Is the New Beetle dead or will it simply take a year off for a reskinning? As for an Up replacement, I've read where this car won't be available in the US.

[antonym]

I love my New beetle and probably will have it for a while but I love my '75 more! I probably will never sell my old beetle but will have no problems selling the new beetle when the time comes; but that is going to be a good while ahead.

My aim was to own an old beetle and a new one... done that. The new ones are nice but lets face it, so are a lot of other cars by VW and other companies. The old ones are the true timeless classics. The new ones will never get that level in my opinion.

[TrudysMom]

I sure hope they keep the CUTE, different design. There are SO many other cars to get if you don't want a Beetle. Lots of plain, cookie cutter cars and SUV's. They need fabulous colors, commercials and ads. I know my little neice wants one when she gets older, she is only ten now.

Just some common sense would sell more of them. I love mine and I hate to see this design change too much and look like just another car on the road.

[TrudysMom]

The up isn't a good trade for a New Beetle. Just looks like any other car.

[Pushing Fifty]

I too grew up with old air-cooled Beetles. My dad had a 57 Oval. Unfortunately, I didn't inherit his mechanical skills. I had a 1971 Super Beetle in the late 70s. When the suspension was shot, we got rid of it. I also had a couple of 1969 Beetles back in the 1980's. One had a bad engine and I sold the other because I was tired of freezing my butt off in the winter. For the next 16 years I drove other cars, but when the NB came out in 1998, I longed to get back into VW's. I couldn't afford a NB at that time, but in 2000, I bought a 1996Golf. I loved that car. In 2003, I bought another 69 Beetle from a fellow club member. For the first couple of years, it was great. Then one problem after another occured. So much so that by last spring, I had paid for the car more than twice! In the meantme, I traded the Golf for a 2007 Passat. I got rid of the old Beetle last July and bought a 2000 New Beetle. And now, it sounds like it will be killed!: Call it weird if you must, but I have a phobia of driving cars that are discontinued.Obviously, air-cooled Beetles left the States back in 1979, but since 1998, there was at least an updated version in the New Beetle. Thus, if I knew for sure that a NBII will come out in 2012, I will have no problems keeping my 2000. If, on the other hand, the NB is dead, I may consider trading it for another Golf. As for the old, classic air-cooleds? I love them, but don't have the mechanical aptitude or inclination to do the upkeep they require. I'm now a confirmed water-cooled guy.

[SMG]

I don't get what you mean. No cars would ever become classics if people got rid of them as soon as the model was discontinued. How does that change anything about your car if they stop building new ones? Technically the original-style NB has been dead for years.

As cars age the daily driven ones rust away and the ones that were taken care of become rare and more sought after. There's no reason that the NB won't be a future classic. In the 70's and 80's, most old Beetles on the road were worthless heaps of crap (my grandfather made one into a trailer in the 80's) and now that most have ended up as razorblades the survivors sell for really good money and are now classics.

Look at what happened with the Corrado in a relatively short period of time. Now I know NB's outnumber Corrados at least 11:1, but the NB could definitely achieve a similar cult status in a decade or so. There were 6.3 million MK2 Golfs built and just think of how hard it is to find one in good condition today. Around here it is almost impossible.

[Pushing Fifty]

I realize that the NB will become a collector car one day. That's not my issue. While it's true that the older NB's last year was 2005, the fact remains that the NB was still in VW's lineup; albeit with some changes. But when I buy a car, I do so with the intention of keeping it for many years and thus still having factory parts available. Aftermarket parts; especially in old air-cooled Beetles, are drastically inferior to those originally made in Wolfsburg.

Basically, I'm a 50-year-old fanboy. I devote myself to one model and get upset when production ceases. Regardless of how many changes occur over a model's production run, it is still a Beetle or whatever model name it was born with. Let's suppose the NB has indeed been killed for all time. This means that I'll never be able to buy a brand new one again! THIS is why I don't like the idea of driving something that has been discontinued. Incidentally, the same thing is happening to the Passat.

[SMG]

VW will have OEM parts in stock for 10 years at the minimum. Just for example the last pair of OEM floorpans in North America for a MK2 Golf was purchased from a local dealer last year.

You have nothing to worry about for a long time when it comes to finding OEM parts for a NB.

[antonym]

And even when OEM runs out.. there is always aftermarket. Look at the old beetles and how the industry still produces parts for those.. parts will not be an issue.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by 1of130

Oh well...I guess the rumors may come true.
I heard from a VW dealership owner/friend that the NB is on its way out for the production of the Up series...and the cue was the final edition beetle. Oh well. Looks like that may be it. Although, Im pretty psyched about the new up series vehicles.
Linky L.A. Auto Show - UP! Lite Concept

I liked the original Up!, but I don't care for ^ that one! Yikes. Looks like a Prius/Fit hybrid.

Sadly, this Beetle may be the first/last VW I own.

[Pushing Fifty]

I happened to notice you are from Bettendorf Ia. I'm originally from East Moline! I graduated from United Township way back in 1977. Isn't there a VW show in Hampton sometime in August? If so, do you know if it's primarily air-cooled or a mixture of all VW's?

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by Pushing Fifty

I happened to notice you are from Bettendorf Ia. I'm originally from East Moline! I graduated from United Township way back in 1977. Isn't there a VW show in Hampton sometime in August? If so, do you know if it's primarily air-cooled or a mixture of all VW's?

Cool!

Yes, I've been to that show a few times. Mostly old-school Beetles. They have some great cars there. I go almost every year and park my Beetle nowhere near the cool ones.

[katiex10204]

^ I agree with you 100%!!

[elancee]

Originally Posted by callisto9

... I don't care for ^ that one! Yikes. Looks like a Prius/Fit hybrid.

....

That was my thought! I heartily dislike the Prius look.

[SMG]

"Volkswagen Group of America President, Stefan Jacoby, has confirmed that the next-gen New Beetle, due to hit North American as a 2012 model, will be offered with a clean diesel engine. The current New Beetle was last offered with a 1.9-liter TDI in 2006, but was discontinued the following year due to tougher emissions requirements."

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...312079964/1193

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by SMG

"Volkswagen Group of America President, Stefan Jacoby, has confirmed that the next-gen New Beetle, due to hit North American as a 2012 model, will be offered with a clean diesel engine. The current New Beetle was last offered with a 1.9-liter TDI in 2006, but was discontinued the following year due to tougher emissions requirements."

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...312079964/1193

Autoblog ran the same info, and I posted it in the other thread that has been going basically the same way as this one.