The End Of An Era: The Last VW Beetle Has Been Made
It looks as though the beloved Volkswagen Beetle has seen its last day in production. In July of 2019, VW announced that the final Type 3 Beetle had completed production at a factory in Mexico. The Beetle was introduced in 1938 and has a bit of uncomfortable history to it. Adolf Hitler suggested that the German automaker come up with an option that will be to German culture what the Ford Model T was to Americans. Production of the two-door, rear-engine economy car, nicknamed "The People's Car", was disrupted by wartime and its relation to the Nazis. It wasn't until postwar that production of the Beetle increased and became widely available to consumers.
By 2002, over 21 million Type 1's were produced, and the first generation stopped production the following year. The Beetle came back in 1998, new, improved and welcomed with open arms by consumers buying into their nostalgia. The model received a slightly masculine redesign in 2012, before slowing production and ultimately calling it quits with the Type 3 in 2019. Like anything else you love in life, it's hard to come to terms with seeing fewer Beetles on the road, but it will make it all the more special when you do spot one.
