Volkswagen Beetle: It Runs and Runs and Runs

BOTANY, AUSTRALIA – November 4, 2009: The Beetle is the most popular classic car of Germany.

The first place in the current German vehicle registration statistics of all vehicles produced before 1979 goes to a car that brings a smile to people’s faces even today: the Beetle. There are still 44,540 of them on the streets in Germany – it runs and runs and runs. This information was provided by the VDA (Automotive Manufacturer’s Association in Germany).

A total of 15.8 million of the attractive two-door car were manufactured in the period from 1938 to 1980 in Wolfsburg, Emden and Osnabrück. Of this, 330,000 were Cabriolets, which was the classic dream car right from the start. In 2009 Volkswagen celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the open bug built by Karmann. This was in the range until January 1980. In Germany, the production of the Beetle Saloon stopped already in January 1978.

The number of Beetles that rolled off the production line worldwide was 21,529,464; they were manufactured in all five continents. Upgrades and innovations were made for this car year after year. The technical highlights were in the beginning of the 1970s with the models 1302 and 1303. In 1972, the model 1302 replaced the Tin Lizzy, the Ford T as the most-produced car of the world. The production finally stopped in July 2003. The last car was produced in Mexico.

Three quarters of all German classic cars were produced in Germany, in which Volkswagen had a share of 24%. The second place in the VDA statistics goes to Mercedes /8, produced since 1968 with 10,140 registered cars. The Opel Kadett takes the third place (9,334 cars). This is then followed by the other German “people’s car”, the Trabant. A total of 7,246 units of the East German “racing cardboards” survived. The cars built before 1979 represent around 1% of the total stock – that is about 315,000 cars.