VW’s next-gen Beetle coming early 2011

Retro is cool. The Fiat 500 and the BMW Mini were yesteryear’s successful cars and their modern counterparts sell like hot cakes as well. The VW Beetle is amongst the most successful mass-production cars in automotive history and how does VW try and bring back that accolade and relive those times? Naturally by making a spanking new one that goes with the style and trend of the modern world but without losing some of the original flavor.

It has been ten long years since the new beetle arrived and it’s high time something is done about it. The anniversary edition is refreshing, but then, new colors and bumpers in limited numbers won’t help the situation completely.

But now VW has some news. They are working on a range of beetle models which will go live sometime in 2011. The word range insists that VW is trying to adopt the strategy that was used by BMW on the Mini. A beetle station wagon or SUV, as the site claims, will be riveting too see but not without controversy. The question of why a small-scale SUV or a roadster would undoubtedly pop up.

The next-gen Beetle would mechanically be based on the Golf, technically developed in Germany, styled in California and constructed in Mexico. Nothing is known on the powertrain options but one can obviously expect to see hybrid variants or possibly battery powered beetles in the future.

Pictured- VW Ragster concept at the 2005 Chicago Auto show