The New
Beetle is to appear in UK dealer showrooms from 29 April at a price of £15,755.
Volkswagen have taken the decision to bring in the limited number of
around 900 left hand drive New Beetles at an early stage, most
of this initial consignment have orders against them, some still remain
available for sale.
Only limited options are available including a CD autochanger to supplement
the Beetle's standard and unique radio cassette audio system and Lemon
Yellow and Pearl metallic paintwork.
Designed to
create a high profile for Volkswagen in the important US market, the New
Beetle has rapidly become a bigger success than even Volkswagen had anticipated.
Beverley Hills celebrities wanted one, a president's daughter became an
early owner, and Bill Gates, the Microsoft Multi billionaire, has ordered
one.
Initial predictions for 50,000 sales a year in the US were increased to
75,000 and ways were found to increase production. More than 107,000 New
Beetles were built and sold in 1998, most in the US and production has
now been increased to a rate of around 130,000 per year.
Furthermore
Jeremy Clarkson has reviewed the new Beetle for Top Gear. While he doesn’t
say its perfect he does praise the plentiful headroom (he would) but does
say "This is retro, for sure, but it's also futuristic, and it's
so loveable. You don't know whether to drive it... or hug it. But you'd
need a heart of steel not to like it."
He goes on to say, "But you can't be level-headed about a car like
this. It's all thing's to all men. It's classless, it's cute, it's fast,
it's fun. You don't even feel like a prat driving it. Everybody is going
to want one….
…And
how many cars are they exporting to Britain? 5,000. And already there
are only 4,999 left. Because the first Turbo that rolls off the boat already
has my name on it."
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