To woo more buyers,‘especially men’,VW reinvents Beetle

It’s the first overhaul since 1998,when Volkswagen came up with the New Beetle. VW,which wants to triple its US sales of cars and trucks over the next decade,says the changes will appeal to more buyers,especially men. But the changes could also anger fans,who love the little four-seater for its huggable curves and perky attitude.

“I hope they keep the fun in the car,and all the round angles,” says Howie Lipton,who owns a computer repair business in Hamilton,Ontario,and helps organise an annual New Beetle show in Roswell,New Mexico.

VW’s lead Beetle project manager for the US,Andres Valbuena,says the 2012 model will have a navigation system,a significantly larger trunk,more luxurious materials and ambient lighting. “It ties in more with our other products. It’s more upscale,” Valbuena says. The 2012 Beetle goes on sale this fall. VW won’t yet say how much it costs. The design is based not on the New Beetle but on the original Beetle,which was created in Nazi Germany in the 1930s,came to the US after World War II and became a counterculture.

It was the antithesis of the land yachts being churned out in Detroit,and young drivers loved it. In 1968,a Beetle with a mind of its own,Herbie,starred opposite Dean Jones in the hit Disney movie “The Love Bug.”

But sales slowed as VW faced tough competition in the small-car segment from Japanese and US automakers and money problems back in Germany. Larry Erickson,who led a lauded redesign of the Ford Mustang six years ago along with New Beetle designer J Mays,says people are unusually attached to the original Beetle and New Beetle because of their friendly shapes and the confident but unaggressive way they sit on the road.