The Beet goes on: will Volkswagen’s latest Beetle finally make the connection? Fleet Voice
Wednesday 20 July 2011. Fleet Voice Column.
Would you drive a Volkswagen Beetle? Twenty one and a half million people around the world have decided a Beetle is just the ticket and countless many more millions have nursed these cars to the point where they are now considered bluechip classics.
The 1999 Beetle, based on the then-current Golf, tried to capture the spirit of the original while offering modern mechanics, reliability, safety and comfort. It was a minor hit to begin with, owners buying into the whole flower vase on the dash flashback to 1960s hippy-dom.
However, since then, the second generation Beetle has been a slow seller, with even the much more appealing cabriolet version not quite pressing the right buttons for buyers.
Volkswagen must have been galled to be the first off the retro mark only to be comprehensively outmanoeuvred by the MINI. Where the Beetle was a pastiche that didn’t have enough of the original’s DNA to cut it, the BMW-era MINI was an instant hit and it has never looked back through a second generation model and an ever expanding portfolio that now even includes an SUV that is far from mini.
To compound VW’s misery, Fiat then launched its 500 with an almost, but not quite, saccharine level of cuteness. Fiat’s clever stroke was to make the 500 a smidgeon smaller than the MINI to avoid direct competition and comparison. With the arrival of the TwinAir model and its brilliant two-cylinder engine, Fiat has come full circle with the 500 and made it a must-have for anyone who wants a chic way of getting from A to B.
Sex appeal
The other point with the MINI and 500 which the second generation Beetle failed to get right was sex appeal. It’s not that MINI or Fiat has imbued their cars with some overtly sassy sensationalism, it’s the fact they have cars that appeal to both sexes in equal measure. Men and women feel equally happy to own and be seen in a MINI or Fiat 500 where the second gen Beetle is definitely a girl’s car.
Before the accusations of sexism start flowing in, a quick look at VW’s own sales stats shows the second generation Beetle was bought predominantly by the female of the species. Nothing wrong with building a car to appeal to women, but it does rather rule out 50% of the potential market.
This is where the new third generation Beetle comes into play. It’s still based on a VW Golf, but it uses the latest Mk6 Golf as its starting point and that is a far better base to grow from than the stylish but dynamically flawed Golf Mk4.
VW has also made the new Beetle bigger, so it sits on wheels 84mm further apart than its predecessor to give a much sportier stance. It also does away with the chasm between the driver and the windscreen, accentuated by the steppes-like wasteland of dash top. In its place is a more intimate and immediate cabin where the driver feels like he’s sitting in the car rather than piloting a narrow boat.
The looks of the new Beetle are sportier and sleeker, so it has a less contrived cutesy look to it. Okay, it’s unashamedly a retro design that is keen to tap into that 21.5-million selling back catalogue, however it’s now more authentic in its approach and feel, which is backed up by the spiel from VW’s high heads.
Styled by Walter da Silva, the man behind many of the VW Group’s biggest hits, the new Beetle is not ‘retro’ according to da Silva. He prefers the word ‘iconic’ and, boy, did Volkswagen use this word a lot when unveiling the car to the press.
Fair enough, VW has a heritage worth plundering and the Beetle is a proper motoring icon, but let’s not kid ourselves this new Beetle is anything other than a Golf in a party frock.
Nothing wrong with putting on a party frock, especially when it offers considerably more space and cabin comfort than its predecessor. Shame the suspension seems to have retro and been tuned to give the feel of cart springs, and this is on the standard set-up. Try the Sport version with its firmer springs and you’d better have an osteopath on speed dial.
Guaranteed seller
But let’s not get too bogged down in the driving dynamics of the car here. The bottom line is the new Beetle could be the worst car in the world to drive and be powered by a dumper truck engine and it would still sell. The reason it’s going to sell in large number is because it’s a car people will want to be seen in, just as they want to be spotted in a MINI or Fiat 500. This is the key change Volkswagen has affected with its third generation Beetle.
Luca de Meo, VW’s Head of Marketing, says: “Everybody could be a customer for the new Beetle. This was a purposeful move on our part. We’ve tried to make the new Beetle more sporty and masculine but without excluding any demographic.”
This sounds like plain old marketing speak from a marketing man, but de Meo makes a sound point with the new Beetle.
He goes on to say: “The Beetle has a history that makes it similar in ways to the Coca-Cola bottle or the Apple iPod: how do you redesign an already iconic design without ruining it? This was our challenge.”
Walter da Silva adds: “I think we have managed to create a new car for Volkswagen that is going to be at the core of everything we do over the coming few years. You will see influences of the new Beetle in our upcoming cars, just as the original Beetle continues to influence our thought processes.”
Volkswagen intends to further the new Beetle cross-sectional appeal with a variety of personalisation options for buyers. When talking about this, de Meo couldn’t quite bring himself to mention the MINI directly, which is surely the king of personalisation in the car world, but be assured there is a plethora of options awaiting any potential Beetle customer.
Pleasingly for business drivers, the new Beetle will come with an efficient 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine, while the entry-point price of £14,875 puts it in very direct competition with the most popular MINI models while offering more interior space and practicality than hatchback MINI models.
It may have taken Volkswagen 73 years to rediscover the formula that made the first Beetle the car of the people, but better late than never for the new Beetle.
Alisdair Suttie
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