I’m not a car person whatsoever, but I can definitely recognize the Volkswagen Beetle. Dating back to the 1930s, engineer Ferdinand Porsche is the one responsible for the design of the Beetle as a result of wanting a cheap, practical, mass-produced vehicle. Little did he know it would be one of the most iconic cars ever created. 

But alas, all good things must come to an end, right? Volkswagen has recently decided to stop production of the Beetle starting in 2019.

It had a good run, but lately, sales have jut been dwindling due to people favoring bigger cars such as crossovers and SUVs. Just 11,151 Beetles were sold during the first eight months of 2018, which was down 2.2 percent from the same period the year prior.

“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, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America.

The history of the Beetle

As we said, the beginning of the design of the Beetle was in the 1930s, however, production didn’t take off until the late 1940s due to the war causing some stalling. In 1955, one million Beetles were sold in Germany. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Beetle really gained recognition when it was featured in the ’60s films that featured Herbie the Love Bug. Since then, Volkswagen has created many models, but started to move towards US markets in the late 90s, early 2000s. Volkswagen implemented a “New Beetle” redesign in the late 1990s, which was insanely popular: they sold 80,000 in 1999 in the US. In 2003, they stopped production of its original design in their Mexican factory.

Since Volkswagen has ceased and then revived the production of some of its vehicles many times over the years, who knows, we could be looking at a totally new model one day. However, for now, last few Beetle models to be created will be just the coupe and convertible styles.

What do you think of Volkswagen ending production on the Beetle? Have you ever owned a Beetle? What do you think of this iconic car?