2011 New York: Why VW’s New Beetle Must Challenge Ford’s Mustang

2012 VW Beetle

The 2012 VW Beetle was announced Monday morning as part of a dramatic three city debut in New York, Berlin and Shanghai.  After the drapes dropped and speeches were spoken, I had the opportunity to chat with Kevin Joostema, VW of America’s General Manager of Product Marketing & Strategy.

Joosteema heads the team charged with selling this new Beetle in its most important market in the world.  Make no mistake, though the global tri-city reveal highlighted the importance of China and Europe, America is where it’s at when it comes to 21st century Love Bug.

According to VW, over 26 million Beetles, including the original and New Beetle launched in 1998, have been sold around the world. Over 6 million of those were purchased in the United States, the Beetle’s single largest market. This also put America – and Joostema’s team – in the driver’s seat when it came to the new model.

2011 MINI Goodwood Edition

But our market is filled with plenty of tough competitors.  Who does Joostema see as the Beetle’s chief competition? His answers may surprise you.

“Our chief competition will be with the Mini, in terms of how emotional it is, its life cycle, and breadth of line – the many options and models it offers. Not so much the Fiat 500 – that car is new, doesn’t have as much history (in America), and is at a lower price point,” he added.

“It may sound strange, but honestly, but we need to target Mustang V-6.  Not from a cross shop perspective, because we know they will not be cross shopped. But we have the same mindset for the buyers.  And what we want is what the Mustang has – the loyalty.  The range. The market of one,” he said.

2011 Ford Mustang V-6

“We need to play on those same emotions, and also take on the Japanese sporty coupes, like the [Scion] tC.  And we need see about the new Civic Si [which also makes its debut at the NYIAS]…” Joostema continued. “And we need to be participating in the same field in terms of customization.”

So will the Beetle have special models, similar Scion’s limited edition “Release Series”?

“Absolutely,” said Joosteema without missing a beat. “We call it ‘active lifecycle management’ and we’re looking at the Scion’s approach, but also Mini with the Mayfair and Camden edition.”

“Maybe we do a Surf Model or Baja Model,” Joostema mused.

The reason for all of the increased hype? VW is not content to let this Beetle flounder about without support. For all of its cute nostalgia, the 2012 Beetle is critical to VW of America’s oft cited mission of hitting annual sales of 800,000 by 2018.

2010 Scion xB Release Series 8.0

“The Beetle is a key component of the goal to hit 800,000 – oh absolutely,” said Joostema. “Put it this way; getting from 500,000 to 800,000 will be done by something else, but the Beetle is key to getting from where we are now to 500,000 because it can give us growth in other markets – access to a new, younger buyer who might then continue on with the brand…”

So what does this all mean? You won’t just be seeing Turbos and Cabriolets in the months and years to come, but a whole range of colorfully customized Beetles roaming the streets.  More tomorrow from the 2011 New York International Auto Show.

View the original article here