As the Volkswagen Beetle Nervously Awaits a Pink Slip, There's an Effort Afoot to Save It

Rumors of the Volkswagen Beetle’s demise are either greatly exaggerated, or right on point. The Model languishes on the low end of the sales scale, hamstrung by a retro design that shuns updates and the public’s dwindling enthusiasm for compact cars.

Still, there exists fans of the model, even inside the scandal-shaken and SUV-fixated company. No one loves the Beetle more than VW design head Klaus Bischoff, who claims the model is his favorite in all Volkswagendom (um, have you seen the Atlas, Klaus?). So great is his love for the Beetle that Bischoff is urging VW to spare the model the axe and stimulate interest through a new method of propulsion.

A report suggests that top brass might be listening.

“We are fighting hard [for it] and considering a new electric bug,” Bischoff told VW Vortex at the North American International Auto Show. “Let’s see what we can do on that one.”

The design chief made it clear that VW has not, at this point, signed a death warrant for the venerable Beetle. Rumors of the model’s post-2018 disappearance so far seem to be just that. Still, the model’s long-term existence is anything but certain.

Volkswagen sold 15,667 Beetles in the U.S. last year, the third-lowest number since the model’s resurrection in the late 1990s, and a fraction of the 55,971 sales seen in 2003. Only two years saw fewer sales — 2009, during the depths of the recession, and 2011, during the changeover to the restyled 2012 model.

Could an alternative drivetrain lead to an upswing in sales for the endangered model? There’s no doubt that an electric Beetle (eBug?) would tick every box on the quirky checklist, potentially drawing in new fans, but cash-strapped VW might not see it as worth the expense. If VW does go that route, it could either cram the existing model with batteries, like its eGolf, or move the model onto the company’s dedicated MEB electric car platform.

[Image: Volkswagen Group]