Volkswagen Beetle compared with Porsche 911 and Audi TT

Rainer Michel, who is vice president of product marketing and strategy for Volkswagen in America said,

That’s no surprise really, as it was Volkswagen's intention from the outset that this design be more masculine and more in common with the shape of the original beetle. That’s not such a bad idea given the iconic Volkswagen Beetle was designed under the direction of none other than Ferdinand Porsche himself.

In regards to any similarities with the Porsche 911, that’s completely understandable too, with Ferdinand’s son, Ferdinand Alexander Porsche designing what remains the world’s most recognised sports car.

The ‘TT’ connection stems from the fact that Ferdinand Piech, who is the supervisory chairman of the Volkswagen Group, is in fact the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche and was once the technical director for Audi.

The family resemblance (that’s all three cars in the image above) is even more understandable when you realise that Volkswagen’s current Head of Group Design, Walter de’ Silva was formerly head of Audi’s design department and oversaw the development of the TT model.

Volkswagen is hoping that the new look will be enough to shift the current skew towards female buyers across to male buyers in the order of 59 percent. It’s a big call (just ask yourself, “when was the last time you saw a guy driving around in a late model Beetle?) but with an optional turbo powerplant, longer and wider stance, larger wheels and lower roof line, it might just work.

One suggestion though, can we please forgo the flower in vase, or at least make that a no cost option?