The Volkswagen New Beetle might die in 2018

After nearly two decades and two makeovers, it might be time to say goodbye to the New Volkswagen Beetle.

While Volkswagen officials have dismissed the news as media speculation, if auto news portal Autoline is to be believed, the German car manufacturer is expected to pull the plug on the manufacture of possibly the cutest car money can buy.

The SUV market is expanding like crazy across the world, including in India. SUVs are outselling traditional cars, and as you might have figured, every automaker with sales growth plans is eyeing the lucrative SUV market. British luxury car-maker Jaguar recently rolled out the F-Pace in India, even pure-bred luxury brands like Maserati are rolling out high-riding five-door cars.

It’s not like Volkswagen is completely missing out the SUV market. The Tiguan’s there. It was also recently unveiled in India. Even the Autoline report seems doubtful that VW needs to cancel the Beetle to open up production capacity.

However, if that is indeed the case, we'll miss the cute Volkswagen Beetle. It’s been around since 1998, and it’s second) generation hit the streets in 2011. While its been quite a while, and Volkswagen decided to drop the ‘New’ from the title, but fun concepts like the Beetle Dune showcased at the 2014 North American International Auto Show promised fun.

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