Despite the BMW Group’s success with the MINI Electric and Stellantis’ Fiat 500e being one of the best selling EVs in Europe, VW says it has no intention of following the path of its competitors in building a retro-inspired urban EV.

VW has committed to only make EVs in Europe starting 2033. This also means that some of the company’s most popular nameplates will be switching to EVs but Schafer has rubbished rumours of the company reviving its iconic Beetle nameplate into an EV-only model.

In an interview with Autocar UK, VW brand CEO Thomas Schafer said there are some nameplates that VW has invested too much into to let them go, but the Beetle is not one of them.

“We've decided we're not going to throw away the traditional, successful names that have carried us for so long, that we've invested in for so long, like Golf and Tiguan. Why would you let them go?”, said Schafer.

As for reviving the Beetle into an EV, in the same way BMW is making MINI into an EV-only brand by 2030, Schafer said:

"I don't think so, because there are certain vehicles that have had their day. It wouldn't make sense to bring it back.

"I wouldn't say with 100% [certainty]. But from where I stand now, I wouldn't consider it. It's the same as Scirocco: it had its day, then there was a new model based on a reinterpretation. To do that again? I don't think so. And going forward with balancing all these technologies and the cost that is associated with it, you've got to invest money in the best possible place."

Rumours of an EV Beetle were rife when previous VW Group CEO Herbert Diess hinted that VW’s scalable MEB platform allows for a return of classic VW nameplates.

"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," said Diess in 2022.

Diess stepped down as CEO in September last year, replaced by Porsche man Oliver Blume. Thomas Schafer is CEO of the group’s namesake brand, taking over from Ralf Brandstatter in 2021.

The more forward-thinking Schafer is not a fan of looking back into the past, saying that playing up to nostalgia “would be a dead end”.

Indirectly, it also means that the VW ID. Buzz, a product of the Diess era to pay homage to the original air-cooled T1 Kombi / Microbus would not be followed up by other retro-inspired models.

“The brand always has to reinvent itself and bring out new things. It's similar to when the Beetle's time was over and the Golf came in. You've got to bring new models, but at the same time optimise existing ones.

"We are proud of our heritage; there's nothing wrong with that. And when you look back, it is something to be proud of. But it's not what only defines us,” he said.

Talks of an EV Beetle surfaced once again, this time by VW’s own doing, when the company’s PR team released photos of an electric Beetle character for an animated film ‘Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie.’

“Two city cars with a futuristic look will be attributed to the main heroes: Cat Noir with the ID.4 and Ladybug - a modern character who stands for female empowerment - with a concept car electric Beetle. The luxury ID. Vizzon will be associated to the successful stylist Gabriel Agreste, and the iconic Volkswagen ID. Buzz will be Tom’s bakery delivery vehicle,” said the company’s press release.

Although Schafer put to rest rumours of an EV Beetle, he pointed to the direction of electric an Golf and Tiguan.

"Obviously we have a lot of names in our history, but there are only, I'd say, a little more than a handful that are really iconic and global. There are the typical ones, the Golf, the Tiguan… Would you do Scirocco or would you do Arteon? Probably not. That is part of our naming philosophy that we are now finalising."

Earlier this year, VW presented the ID.2all, a very close-to-production concept car that’s clearly developed as an EV-only Golf.

Regardless of VW's stance on retro-looking cars, Chinese maker Great Wall Motor's EV-only Ora brand is already doing a modern, eletric-only interpretation of the original Beetle - the Ora Ballet Cat, which has been a big hit among Chinese women. The Ballet Cat sits above Ora Good Cat that's sold in Malaysia for RM 140k.