The new Beetle
was decided in 1994, after the presentation of the Concept
1 study in Detroit in January and the enthusiastic reaction of the market.
In March
1994 the official request was given to the engineers to make the
car.
Mid 1995
a prototype and the design were approved by the Volkswagen board.
The Project Manager : Reinhard Szidat (Volkswagen)
The Beetle is
now build in Puebla, Mexico and there were considerations
to launch the Beetle in Wolfsburg, Germany, as well, to serve the European
markets.
Finally, the car
was very successful in the US, but European buyers did nor accept the trendy
design to the same extend as the Americans. So, no need to assemble the car
in the Wolfsburg plant.
Some key
facts:
Development time
after design freeze
22 months
Total Investment
into the New Beetle
~ DM 1 Bill.
($ 590 Mio.)
Investment into
Development Activities
DM 395 Mill. ($220 Mio.)
Investment into
Facilities
DM 578 Mill. ( $ 310 Mio.
)
Forecasted
Units p.a.
130,000
Total units per
lifetime
800,000
Lifecycle
6 - 8 years
The New Beetle is part of Volkswagens
platform strategy. As part of the A-platform it is interesting to see, how
this different car fits into the program.
# of parts of the new Beetle
: 900 (BOM positions)
# of common parts :
272 including
engine,
transmission,
underbody (rear and back
assy),
axles,
suspensions,
steering,
brakes and
tube systems.
Modifications were made to
airfilters,
waterpump housing,
additional cables and
battery console
60% of supplier parts are delivered
from within the US
