VW Australia to exterminate Beetle

Volkswagen has announced its Beetle hatch will be killed off locally before the end of this year.

The retro-styled car was always a niche model, but with sales of Volkswagen's mainstream product lines on a march over the past 10 years, the Beetle was look increasingly irrelevant in the local range, despite the introduction of a new model in 2013. Worse still, sales of the Beetle had slowed to a trickle last year – 240 cars sold for the year – in a market where the also-retro Fiat 500 sold over 2000 units.

Volkswagen Australia is now headed by a new MD, Michael Bartsch, only recently appointed to the position. Bartsch and his team are doubtless looking hard at the winners and losers in the local range, with the Beetle clearly one of the latter.

The previous generation Beetle – the so-called 'New Beetle' – sold 550 cars in Australia during 2006. At the time Volkswagen's sales here totalled 21,571. Since then the brand has rapidly climbed up the sales ladder, other than a stagnant period during the years 2013 and 2014, and is now sitting on 60,225 sales for 2015. In contrast, the Beetle's sales last year were barely half the 2014 figure of 476, which was over 320 units down on the 2013 figure of 799 – during the current model's first year on sale here.

Volkswagen's experience with the Beetle is indicative of a global trend away from retro styling, but the Beetle will reportedly remain in production for global markets other than Australia. According to a report published by News Corp, and quoting Volkswagen Australia spokesman Kurt McGuiness, a final edition of the Beetle will surface in Australia prior to its demise here.

The statement issued by Volkswagen Australia is as follows:

The Beetle has become a niche model in Australia, and we plan to phase out the current generation later in the year. Of course, the Beetle is such a significant part of our heritage both locally and around the world, which is why we are planning to bid farewell to the current Beetle in Australia with a limited-run special model that will offer some unique equipment and individualized numbering. Rest assured, the current Beetle will get the send-off it deserves.