It's not every day that the CEO of a major global automaker (and one of the biggest at that) participates in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) online session. That's exactly what VW Group CEO Herbert Diess has done; and participants came ready with questions. One of those addressed the topic many have been wondering about: will VW bring back the iconic Beetle as it enters the electrification era? Diess' response was both surprising and rather direct.
"Our most emotional car in our history is definitely the microbus. This was my first priority to bring this icon back to life. But yes, many other emotional cars are possible on our scalable MEB platform."
The new microbus he was referring to is obviously the production-spec ID.Buzz, which will be unveiled on March 9. It's also built on the MEB platform, along with the ID.4 crossover. The previous generation Beetle, discontinued in 2019, saw its popularity dwindle in its final years as customers were more interested in crossovers and more conventional daily drivers like the Jetta and Golf.
If the ID.Buzz becomes a smash hit, then don't be surprised if we see an MEB-based new Beetle concept appear at some point not too far out. Nothing is confirmed just yet, though. Something else Diess strongly hinted at that caught our attention is the possibility of an all-electric truck. Another participant asked him about that and he stated that such a vehicle is a "good idea." But not all good ideas translate into sales success.
The American truck market is very competitive because it's largely dominated by Detroit. It would still make sense for every automaker, foreign and domestic, to pay attention to how Americans react to EV trucks as a whole.
The Ford F-150 Lightning was already nearly sold out and production was doubled in order to meet demand. Chevy's Silverado 1500 EV and the GMC Hummer EV are two other examples. What we have yet to see is a compact EV truck. VW will soon launch the Tarok small pickup in Brazil later this year, which would be the ideal candidate for electrification.