Beetle: The Birth, Growth, Death and Revival of a Cult Brand

By the end of the 1990s, more than 21 million Beetles had been sold. The car had earned the status of a cult brand⁴ in the 1960s and 1970s across the world, especially in the US. By the 21st century, the original Beetle had been in production for nearly 70 years. Naturally, Volkswagen's decision to end its production disappointed many Beetle fans. A BusinessWeek writer summed up the feelings of millions of such people, "I got a real twinge when I heard that Volkswagen just produced its last Bug."⁵ However, Volkswagen's decision was not totally unexpected -industry watchers (and especially the Mexican people and media) had been aware of this eventuality for quite some time.

During the early 2000s, many cheaper foreign cars (such as Ford Fiesta, Fiat Uno and Chevrolet Pop) began eating into Beetle's market in Mexico. Around the same time, Mexico City authorities decided to give taxi permits to only cars or cabs with four doors, to ensure passenger safety and convenience.

This decision was nothing short of a death knell for Beetle, since it had only two doors. The above two factors, severely eroded demand for the car.

Sales in Mexico had dropped to mere 5,000 by 2003, from over 98,000 a decade ago. Given these circumstances, Volkswagen seemed to have been left with little choice...