For those who visited the Chicago show back in 2005, the Ragster Concept would have given you some idea on what was being planned, but then VW remained tight-lipped about the developments. News last month suggested the upcoming bug arriving sometime in 2011 will see a version with its top removed and even a small-sized SUV will feature in the list. VW will get there by using the 6th generation Golf platform to make the hatch and it would not be built stateside.
But now, Motor Trend reports that VW is considering another Beetle based on the VW Up!. The Up! debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt show and received a lot of positive response, especially from the American audience. So, VW might have decided to make use of it as a base to serve America exclusively with this iconic and hip car.
If the car is going to be based on the Up!, then it makes it a rear-engined, rear wheel-drive layout bringing it ever so close to the original version. The renderings are neat and the car should in all probability look like them.
What does all this mean. Simple-another sub-brand for VW. With the amount of waves the Beetle has created in America, launching these two vehicles under a brand new banner makes a whole lot of sense.
There are just a couple of weeks left before the big double birthday party: Volkswagen New Beetle fans from all over Europe are going to be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the cult car line; at the same time the New Beetle Sunshine Tour is starting its fifth run in July. Alongside the production models, special paint jobs or completely new body work will all be on display at our grand review drive along the Baltic Sea coastline. The birthday tour starts midday on Saturday, July 19, at the Volkswagen Center in Lübeck. Its goal? A beach party featuring New Beetles on the beach grasslands at Grömitz.
The private initiative of the “New Beetle Sunshine Tour” got started by Beetle Cabriolet driver Gabriele Kraft of Lübeck in 2004. She takes charge of the organization of the party, which comes along each year in July. “What had its origin on a small scale has grown meanwhile into a regular international meeting. This year three New Beetles from Ukraine will be joining us as a first,” she says. More than some 190 cars with participants from all over Europe have registered already, and Gabriele Kraft is pretty optimistic that there won’t be a single spot left on the beachy grasslands at Grömitz. Even Beetle freaks from as far away as Scotland have logged on with us.
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
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