Volkswagen New Beetle

The Volkswagen New Beetle is a compact car introduced by Volkswagen in 1998, drawing heavily on the design cues of the original Beetle. Based on a Volkswagen Golf, the retro design proved to be more successful in some markets than in others. The car was a relatively slow seller in Europe, but it was a success in the United States. There, marketing campaigns enhanced the continued goodwill towards the original, and helped the new model to inherit it. The Volkswagen New Beetle was Motor Trend’s Import Car of the Year for 1999. A convertible version of New Beetle started production two years after launch, after many buyers had aftermarket conversions. In the United States the engines were the 2.0 liter inline-4, for the base model, and the 1.8 liter turbo inline-4, for the Sport Model which included a sport suspension, and bigger wheels and tires.