Fred Harris

Volkswagen’s recent announcement that they are dropping the Beetle from their product line had a familiar ring to me. I remember the excitement I felt when the company announced that it would be bringing back the Beetle in 2000, as the “New Beetle,” after a long hiatus.

Since 2000, I’ve noticed that VW has tweaked the New Beetle several times, but I guess too many baby boomers have been aging out to sustain demand (or to be able to get into and out of it, despite all the hip and knee replacements), and SUVs and huge “minivans” are the vehicles most people really seem to want these days.

Or maybe it’s that too many members of the original Hippie and counterculture core market have had their car keys taken away.

Whatever. RIP (for now) VW Beetle.