Volkswagen Beetle bows out with ‘Classic’ edition

Australia will be one of the first markets to say a second farewell to the iconic Beetle.

FOR the second time in its career, the Volkswagen Beetle will be no more. Even though production of the front-drive, Mk6 Golf-based Beetle will continue in VW’s Mexican plant (for the time being) to satisfy the US market, the rest of the world is preparing to bid farewell to a car it never really bonded with. And Australia will be among the first to say goodbye.

Volkswagen revived the Beetle’s iconic design when the ‘New’ Beetle launched here in January 2000, but even in its best year – the first 12 months – the modern Beetle shifted a modest 1328 units, compared with the original Beetle’s 1960 sales record of 24,388. And it was downhill from there, with the New Beetle breaking the 1000-unit mark just once in the last 15 years (1043 units in 2005, bolstered by the launch of the Cabriolet). There’s been a similar level of disinterest across the globe.

But it’s the Scirocco R Wolfsburg we’re most looking forward to. Another last-of-the-line model for Australia and capped at 150 units, the final Scirocco goes on sale in November in manual ($49,490) and DSG ($51,990) forms. Wearing either Oryx White pearl or Rising Blue paint, each garnished with black 19-inch ‘Lugarno’ alloys and winged-back, race-style bucket seats, the last Scirocco promises to be the best of a model line we’ll miss immensely.