A new report is
claiming Volkswagen is working on an electric beach buggy. The report should be taken with a grain of salt, but
Autocar says the company is eyeing a new model which would be a modern
interpretation of the Meyers Manx.
Since the company has already announced the Beetle
is going out of production, the beach buggy will reportedly be underpinned by
the MEB platform. The model is also rumored to have an open air cabin, a roll
bar and a “free-standing windscreen.”
The beach buggy is reportedly being created at
Volkswagen’s research and development center in Braunschweig, Germany and is
rumored to be one of three retro-inspired models under development. The other
two are said to be the aforementioned ID Buzz and a five-door take on the
Beetle.
If the report is to be believed, the beach buggy
will be unveiled at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. The model will likely debut as
a concept, but it could eventually go into production as the car is said to be
under “active consideration.”
While there’s little doubt an electric beach buggy
would be interesting, it’s hard to see how Volkswagen would be able to build a
business case for the model. The buggy would have limited appeal and slow sales
would make it difficult to recoup development costs.
Regardless, Volkswagen hasn’t been shy about
producing cool concepts and leaving them to wither on the vine. The
well-received BlueSport concept is probably the best example as fans were
clamoring for the Mazda MX-5 competitor.
It’s also worth mentioning that Volkswagen isn’t a
stranger to beach buggy concepts as the company introduced the Buggy Up in
2011. That particular model was based on the up! and was heavily inspired by
the Meyers Manx.
