Volkswagen might have been the victim of its own creation, the Beetle. It may be difficult to successfully argue if Beetle made Volkswagen popular or Volkswagen made Beetle into a phenomenally popular car brand. Perhaps, one might say since Volkswagen is the creator, the credit should go to Volkswagen.
Whatever the case may be, Beetle is the undisputed king of car brands of all times. It is the Michael Jackson of Pop music or the Pele of Soccer. Its supremacy is displayed well beyond any doubt by the fact that over 21 million Beetles were sold between 1938 and 2003, almost the current population of Australia. Not only are its looks different, it charted a new course in technology by deploying an air-cooled rear engine. Extremely high build quality and innovative, eye-catching advertising are attributed to its phenomenal success. Beetle ended its run as the longest-running and most-produced automobile of a single design.
In the early thirties, Adolf Hitler had conceived a people’s car that an ordinary German should be able to afford. Hitler was quite clear about what he wanted. A car that can accommodate 2 adults, 3 children, and runs at a speed of about 60 mph. This car was to be made available to people at a cost of 990 RM through a savings scheme. The average earning of the time was about 32RM a week. During the year 1934, Hitler tasked the celebrated automobile engineer Ferdinand Porsche to design the people’s car. Erwin Komenda, Porsche's chief designer, was responsible for the design and style of the car.
One of the reasons behind Beetle’s popularity was the ease with which one could customize it. Customizing a Beetle was cost effective and easy to do. Several methods were adopted in customizing its exteriors, such as changing the wheels and lowering the suspension of the car, giving a cleaner look by removing the bumpers and trim, lowering the roof and giving it a meaner, lower and sleeker appearance, etc.
Around 2002-2003 was the time of the beginning of fall of the original Beetle. From a peak of 1.3 million cars in the year 1971, the sales had fallen to 30,000 units. In the month of June 2003, Volkswagen had announced the closure of Beetle production due to decreasing demand. The last car produced in a factory in Mexico was shipped to the company's museum in Wolfsburg, Germany. Mexico bid farewell to the original Beetle through an advertisement. Though the original Beetle might have finished its race finally, but its legend lives on and here is the New Beetle now!
Pacific Volkswagen is a Volkswagen dealer in Los Angeles, offering both new Volkswagen vehicles as well as pre-owned cars. Along with new and used cars, the dealership also offers vehicle service, parts and accessories and affordable financing assistance. Pacific Volkswagen features all the leading models of Volkswagen, including New Beetle, Jetta, Passat, Tiguan, Golf, Routan, GTI, Touareg and more. Owned by Mike Sullivan and the Sullivan Family, Pacific Volkswagen has been serving the community in and around Los Angeles since 1964.