Volkswagen has announced in Germany that it will cease production of its current Beetle car, a model which was introduced in 2011 and is made at a plant in Mexico. It is the third generation of Beetle, more or less. It is known at the A5. The original car was created in pre-war Germany in the late 1930s. A prototype model, lower left, had no back window and front opening (suicide) doors. It was refined for mass production in 1938 and the British oversaw resumption of the same car in 1946 after the war. It was built with variations (like the convertible right) until 2003. The Volkswagen New Beetle (upper left) was built from 1997 to 2010. The most recent Bug was introduced in 2011. Today Volkswagen CEO, Hinrich J. Woebcken, said “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.” But he vowed this is the end. We shall see.
