Volkswagen Beetle: Next-gen car to become an electric four-door – report
New proposal moves car closer to and farther away from its roots.
The next-generation Volkswagen Beetle could be a four-door only model riding on the company's MEB electric car platform, available with rear-wheel drive.
According to Autocar, this proposal is currently under consideration by the people who matter at Volkswagen, but a decision has yet to be reached.
If given the go-ahead, the new Beetle will ride on the same all-electric MEB platform that will underpin production versions of the Volkswagen ID hatch, ID Buzz kombi van, ID Crozz crossover, and ID Vizzion sedan.
This isn't the first time the idea of moving the next-generation Beetle onto an electric car platform has been floated.
"If we wanted to do a Beetle, electrically it would be much better than today’s model, much closer to history, because it could be rear-wheel drive", Herbert Diess, then head of the Volkswagen brand, and now chief of the entire Volkswagen Group, told the British magazine late last year.
Diess is keen to introduce more "emotional" cars to the brand's range, and a revived Beetle could fill that role.
The proposed shift to a four-door layout reflects a shift in buyer preferences, with many opting for high-riding SUVs, and those who stick with more traditional body styles are overwhelmingly preferring the benefit of four passenger doors.
The current Volkswagen Beetle was withdrawn from the Australian market in early 2016 due to slow sales. Production of current model will end next year, and any successor will be still a few years away.
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