Chart Of The Day: Weekend Toy Sales, June And First Half Of 2010

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: July 14th, 2010

chart of the day weekend toy sales june and first half of 2010

#ChartOfTheDay #Enthusiasm #NewCars #Sales

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14 of 29 comments

Amendment X on Jul 14, 2010

VW New Beetle... lmao

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- BDB on Jul 14, 2010
  
  People always slam Chrysler for keeping the PT Cruiser too long without any major change, but see to forget that the New Beetle has been around basically the since the last century! I think the VW New Beetle (especially in it's early days) vs. the Golf is another example of marketing over substance, just like the SUV vs. the minivan.
  
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- NulloModo on Jul 14, 2010
  
  I've driven some New Beetles that have been trade-ins or bought at auction for our used lot, and in general I have liked them, especially the turbo models. The convertibles are fun, there is a lot of room up front, visibility is good, and the interior, while not up to current VW model standards, is better than some of the other cars in the price range. It has some quirks, like the minivan length dash, but you could do worse for your money, especially on the used market. It does need a refresh, and thankfully one is coming, but I'd much rather drive a New Beetle than a PT Cruiser.
  
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- BDB on Jul 14, 2010
  
  Yes, but a lot of those things you like can be found in a Golf/GTI--and with a more usable backseat and better utility. I wouldn't be caught dead in a New Beetle convertible unless my better half was the one driving, and this is coming from a former Miata owner!
  
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- NulloModo on Jul 14, 2010
  
  True, the Golf or GTI are probably nicer in almost every way than the New Beetle. The New Beetle does have a ridiculous amount of headroom though, for whatever that's worth.
  
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- Amendment X on Jul 14, 2010
  
  Yeah, the New Beetle was one of the first (correct me if I'm wrong) cars to go retro... and I remember reading an article back in 1998 talking about the upcoming VW New Beetle and I was let down that the engine was going to be in the front. It certainly has been a long run. I guess I always was annoyed that it was pegged as a "girl's car" because I thought the design was pretty creative when it was new (and I wanted it to go mainstream, equally admired by both genders). It has held up better than most cars from the 90s though.
  
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- NulloModo on Jul 14, 2010
  
  Amendment X - I think you're right. The PT Cruiser, SSR, retro Mustang, HHR, and 300C all came later. The Plymouth Prowler beat it by a year, and by several years when you consider concepts, but it was such a niche vehicle that it might not count.
  
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- Steve65 on Jul 16, 2010
  
  There's nothing a New Beetle can do that a Golf/GTI (closed) or Eos (open) can't do better. Except of course appeal to the blind nostalgia of baby boomers who pine for their childhoods in the back seats of the originals, and have blissfully forgotten what irredeemable shitboxes they were for any task higher than "transportation appliance".
  
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Threeer on Jul 14, 2010

VW sold 3700 Eos in the first half of this year?? Now that really is a surprise...

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- BDB on Jul 14, 2010
  
  Hey if I wanted a FWD convertible, it'd certainly be at the top of the list, though mostly because its competitors are so bad.
  
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- Rudiger on Jul 15, 2010
  
  Indeed. I wonder what the best sales year was for the previous Sebring convertible. My guess would be that the current version is selling at a mere fraction of the levels that the prior model sold. It's a shame because the prior Sebring convertible was a nice, affordable, quasi-luxury, highway cruiser that appealed to older folks who wanted to put the top down occasionally, but still get good gas mileage and had FWD. Now, it looks like a bastardized version of the hoary old Crossfire, brand-new, years old ones are surely still sitting on a few dealer lots. Just your typical Chrysler bungling of another one of their models that used to sell well. It is truly uncanny how badly Chrysler (and GM, for that matter) can misread the auto market.
  
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Iamwho2k on Jul 15, 2010

Where's the Mazda RX-8? (is it that low that it doesn't even register on the sales radar?)

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- Dougjp on Jul 15, 2010
  
  Yeah, that and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe as well. Also the VW GTi.
  
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BDB on Jul 15, 2010

The New Beetle went from cool retro-mobile into the ultimate chick car the minute one-hit-wonder Mandy Moore drove it in her first music video in 1999. Fellow Gen Y members/Millennials know exactly what I'm talking about.

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