Date:         Mon, 11 May 1998 11:22:57 -0400
Reply-To:     Richard Golen <rgolen@UMASSD.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Golen <rgolen@UMASSD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: New beetle name
Comments: To: Don Gibbons <dgibbons@PRESRAY.COM>, Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
In-Reply-To:  <00005089.CW21041@presray.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

At 10:22 AM 5/11/98 -0400, Don Gibbons wrote:
>Considering the treatment of us by VW and the distaste of the name "New
beetle"
>what about "Water bug" as a grass roots renaming for VW's car they should
have
>made in 76 after they killed the REAL beetle. After all at first the
beetle was
>just a VW type 1, the public named it the beetle.
>
>

Give it a rest.....VW did not kill the "REAL beetle" the marketplace did!
Not only in the US but in Europe, Africa, Asia and now in Mexico and South
America.

US Beetle sales peaked out in 1970/71 and by 1976 sales were at less than
10% of the level of 1970! Face it the beetle is 1930s technology for the
most part, it is a very labor intensive car to produce requiring over 50
man/hours to build while the Golf and New Beetle take approximately 30 hours.

In fact last year Mexico produced ONLY 15,000 air-cooled beetles (down from
over 100,000 5 years ago). The beetle, despite the fact that the Mexican
Government reduced the purchase tax on the Beetle by 90%, is getting
hammered by Toyota, et al (just as happened in the US more than 20 years
ago). Bottom line, the beetle's days are probably numbered in Mexico.

Brasil restarted the beetle production line in 95 in hopes of offering the
beetle with a tax break (a la Mexico), the line was closed down within two
years because VW was stuck with almost one year's worth of inventory of
beetles. They had to pretty much give the cars away.

As an owner of both a 56 Beetle and a 98 New Beetle, I can say without
reservation that they are both great cars, and I'm glad that VW has
produced a modern and SAFER relative to the tried and true air cooled beetle.

By the way...regarding your comment that the "public" named the Type 1 the
"beetle"...that is far from the truth. The name was given to the KdF wagen
by a British automotive journalist after seeing the KdF wagen at the Berlin
Motor Show in 1938.


Long live the New Beetle.

Ric