Cabrio New Beetle is to be a Karmann

VW will build a New Beetle convertible. The project has been given to fellow German automotive engineering firm Karmann GmbH.

Though it was widely expected the Cabrio would be cancelled, VW says it won't, that the automaker is continuing full-steam ahead in broadening its product portfolio. A new Cabrio is also in the development stages by Karmann, which will bring the total number of available Volkswagen convertibles to two.

Impression of the New Beetle Cabrio

The Cabrio is set to be a runaway success with a US "Beetle BUZZ" poll, "Which Volkswagen would you like to see in production?" Over 50-percent selected a convertible version of the New Beetle over a super-performance Bug, rugged Dune Bug, and tough pickup truck.

In 2002, Volkswagen will accommodate this majority when it sends a drop-top Bug to its North American dealers. VW management met in July 1999 to evaluate designs, and long-standing collaborator Wilhelm Karmann GmbH has been given the task of developing the project. Karmann is the mastermind behind many successful VWs, including the Golf convertible, Karmann-Ghia and Corrado sports car. Its most significant contribution to the VW marque, however, is arguably the Karmann Cabriolet, an open-air version of the original Beetle, that debued in 1949.

The New Beetle convertible is expected to feature a power canvas roof and added stiffness built directly into the Beetle's frame, thus avoiding an aesthetically displeasing roll bar. Look for the Cabrio to hit the auto-show circuit in the next 10 months, possibly as early as this fall's Paris Motor Show.

And this isn't just an internet rumour - the following was translated - can't you tell - from Karmann's own website: Osnabrück, 21.6.2001 -

The technical development is working at full capacity with the successors for the Mercedes Cabrio - the AUDI Cabrio/Coupé duo and the development Volkswagens of the new Beetle Cabrio -. Besides Karmann strives intensively for a further project, in order appropriately to charge to capacity the free production capacities between in the autumn taking place the discharge Volkswagens Golf Cabriolets and the start new Volkswagens of the Cabriolets."

We will keep you posted.

Karmann's cause for concern

Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, the German specialist coachbuilder and automotive supplier, is concerned that an order to develop a new convertible issued by Volkswagen has not been formalised and no timetable has been set for the start of production. Karmann's managing director, Rainer Thieme, said Volkswagen would not turn to the new convertible until it had launched the convertible New Beetle on the US market in 2002.

However, Karmann is profiting from the fact that its products are not as susceptible to economic changes as mass-produced cars, and so turnover and profits will be kept stable in 2001. The company supplied 54,329 fully assembled cars last year, down 15 per cent on 1999. Turnover from cars was unchanged at 1.1bn euros, and total turnover was up 2.7 per cent at 1.24bn euros.

Sent in by Pete Frost