We finally get news that the VW Sirocco sports car will be axed for now…. which means a few years…..which also means it might only be revived when market conditions and demand for Volkswagen specialty vehicles like this Scirocco gets better.
Volkswagen brand board member Arno Antlitz responded, saying: “The Beetle and Scirocco are representatives of an emotional and appealing class of vehicles, but it (VW product planning) is not always about continuing cars from one generation to the next.” It’s only the hardtop Beetle that’s expected to get the axe; the convertible outsells it considerably, and remains the only convertible in the VW lineup following the axing of the VW Golf Cabrio last year.
The Beetle is one of VW’s slowest-selling cars across its range, selling only 25,127 in both body styles over the whole of 2016. The Scirocco sold less than half; with 10,752 going to owners in 2016. The two models’ combined 2016 sales were topped by those of the Golf in January 2017 alone.
Given that Volkswagen’s cost-cutting measures are spreading to its more central operations following a restructuring of the group’s motorsport activities, axing the slow-selling Beetle and Scirocco would make sense, despite the brand’s stated aim of offering products with more emotional appeal. This is the same road Toyota Japan took 2 decades ago by discontinuing the Celica & Supra and they saw how it changed their selling patterns and now Toyota wants to revive these iconic models.
