Beetle

Volkswagen’s Beetle is one of the most famous automotive nameplates in history, but it actually spans more than one production era. The original car emerged from the postwar Type 1, with civilian series production beginning in Wolfsburg in 1945. That rear-engine, air-cooled small car became a global symbol for Volkswagen and remained in production for decades, with official Volkswagen history noting Beetle production continuing through 2003 in Mexico. In the late 1990s, Volkswagen revived the concept with the New Beetle, which translated the classic shape into a modern front-engine package and launched a new chapter for the nameplate in 1997. A second revival followed in 2011 with the more contemporary Beetle, which kept the recognizably rounded silhouette while moving the model further toward a lifestyle and enthusiast role. Volkswagen ended production of that modern Beetle in 2019. Because the nameplate returned after distinct gaps, the Beetle should be understood as a multi-period model rather than a single uninterrupted production run.