Electric Volkswagen Beetle revival shot down by company boss

The CEO of German car giant Volkswagen has reportedly ruled out a return for the Beetle nameplate as an electric car, less than a fortnight after a concept vehicle bearing the iconic name was revealed for the silver screen.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen announced a range of its electric cars would feature in a new French animated children's movie titled Miraculous: Ladybug and Cat Noir, The Movie.

Among the concept cars shown on a promotional poster for the film was a red Beetle-like vehicle – referred to as a “concept car electric Beetle”.

While this fuelled speculation the Beetle could return as an electric car, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer recently told UK publication Autocar that the automotive giant held no such plans.

“I don't think so, because there are certain vehicles that have had their day,” Mr Schäfer told Autocar news editor Felix Page when asked if the Beetle could make a comeback. “It wouldn't make sense to bring it back.

“It's the same as Scirocco: it had its day, then there was a new model based on a reinterpretation. To do that again? I don't think so. 

“And going forward with balancing all these technologies and the cost that is associated with it, you've got to invest money in the best possible place.”

Mr Schäfer’s comments contrast those made by former Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, who hinted at an electric Volkswagen Beetle multiple times – first in November 2017 and then once more in February 2022, less than six months before he left the German company. 

While the electric Beetle revival has been all but ruled out, Mr Schäfer said nameplates such as the Golf and Tiguan are likely to continue into the electric age – provided the battery-powered models can pass off as generational successors.

“We've decided we're not going to throw away the traditional, successful names that have carried us for so long, that we've invested in for so long, like Golf and Tiguan,” he told Autocar. “Why would you let them go?”

“If you call something a Golf or Passat or Tiguan, it has to have the genes of the vehicle – you cannot just call it something if it's not the same substance. 

“There are examples in the auto industry at the moment where someone has taken a classic name and then put it on a car that's not at all what it is… But I'm not mentioning names.”

As previously reported, Volkswagen has announced it has no current plans for an all-new Golf with petrol and diesel power, with the nameplate due to go electric-only from 2028 when the ninth generation is expected to launch.

Volkswagen plans to launch at least 10 electric cars by 2026, though this is understood to include its existing models such as the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5 and ID. Buzz.