Punch buggy – no returns?

One of the automotive world’s most iconic models – the Volkswagen Beetle – will soon be laid to rest.

More than 21 million VW Beetles have been built since it was introduced in Germany in 1938, making it one of the best-selling and longest-lasting vehicles of all time.

The rear-engine, rear-drive Volkswagen Beetle arrived in Australia in 1953 and its modern reinterpretation was discontinued here in 2016 after slow sales.

Now Volkswagen has announced that all global production and sales of the Beetle will cease in 2019.

“The loss of the Beetle after three generations, over nearly seven decades, will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans,” said Hinrich Woebcken, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, which presides over the Mexican factory in which the Beetle is built.

Volkswagen has released a Beetle Final Edition in North American markets to commemorate the end of an era.

Paul Pottinger, Volkswagen Group Australia’s general manager of corporate communications, said the Volkswagen Beetle will always have a special place in the hearts and minds of Australian motorists.

“We have the oldest right-hand drive Beetle in the world in the Volkswagen Australia lobby; its heritage means a lot to us,” he said.

“It’s been a part of the Aussie landscape for decades and so we’ll be raising a glass to one of the great names in automotive history this evening.”

Lovingly known as the Volkswagen Bug, and the subject of a game in which people punch each other when they see a “Punch Buggy”, the Beetle is one of only a few vehicles globally that’s a house-hold name. Who remembers Herbie the Love Bug.

But like the legendary Aussie voice of John Farnham, the Beetle could make a comeback – even if it’s officially ‘the last time’.

Pottinger said he was “…unaware of any future plans to keep the Beetle going”, but speculation persists of an all-new EV Beetle being resurrected in future.

Volkswagen could easily produce another ‘new New Beetle’ based on its all-electric MEB vehicle architecture, to sit alongside the born-again Kombi people-mover in its futuristic I.D. EV model family.

Given the brand power and cut-through of the Beetle name, it would be unusual for a huge multinational company like Volkswagen not to leverage it in future -- and it seems the company agrees.

“As we move to being a full-line, family-focused automaker in the US and ramp up our electrification strategy with the MEB platform, there are no immediate plans to replace it,” continued Woebcken, before concluding: “I would also say ‘Never say never’.”

Watch this space…