Comments on: The VW Beetle Gets a “Sex Change”… Again

By: SR

SR — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 04:11:00 +0000

I think it looks really ugly and wish that they would just change it back to the fun, girly version. Men have plenty of manly vehicles to choose from. Is it a crime to have one feminine car in the world?

By: Drdanj

Drdanj — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:45:00 +0000

The new version is just plain ugly. Looks kind of like a dumpling.

By: Luiz Kessler

Luiz Kessler — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:08:00 +0000

I’m brazilian owner of 2008 Red New Beetle. In my country, the VW New Beetle is not seen as a woman’s car. Probably due to its high cost, being inaccessible for most women. This year, I’ve been traveling around California and found a curious statistic: I saw about 400 New Beetle north and south of the state. 398 were driven by women, 2 by a couple of gay men (in San Francisco). I do not know why, but it would be no explanation for such a prejudice?

By: Dfgdf

Dfgdf — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:18:00 +0000

i hate that VWs have been branded as feminine and i hate the flower vase but i love VWs

By: Travis Olsson

Travis Olsson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:26:00 +0000

I don’t subscribe to the idea that the NB is of a feminine design… I see more (young and old alike) men driving them than women, actually. I love my NB, and I’m looking forward to the 21C re-design!

By: Travis Olsson

Travis Olsson — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 23:20:00 +0000

I’m so glad someone mentioned “the wave!” I always wave at other Beetle drivers, and they usually always wave back… Interestingly enough, I also drive a GTI, and GTI drivers do the same. I love it!

By: Jim Cherry

Jim Cherry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:40:12 +0000

I’m the guilty party–at least according to many comments here. Still, I am deeply gratified that my article has inspired so many well thought out statements.
It turns out my mentions of the Beetle’s “sex change” were exactly what VW intended. “”The Beetle is now characterized by a clean, self-confident and dominant sportiness. We wanted the vehicle to be more sporty, dynamic and masculine. … It’s much more strong and solid.”

— Volkswagen design brand chief Klaus Bischoff”

Thank you for posting a link to my article. I am paid by the page view and this has been one of my most viewed (and commented on) articles ever.

By: Yrro

Yrro — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:22:55 +0000

“Why would you put such a big engine in a tiny car?”

Because it makes it awesome? Big engines in tiny cars produce the best driving vehicles on the market.

You may care only about gas mileage, but some of us like a car with performance. My car cheers me up with every freeway entrance ramp I hit. It’s a lot cheaper than therapy. In any case, concerns over whether a car gets 28 or 36 mpg are mostly conspicuous consumption when the real problem is that you have the whole population driving 30 minutes to work with no one else in the car.

In any case, I believe they are still offering a smaller engine for those who only care about economy.

By: bbonnn

bbonnn — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:13:33 +0000

Vasque (hiking shoe company) notes these differences in the “women’s” model:

“Narrower heel pocket, added support in the instep, heel to ball ratio adjusted (relationship between the first and fifth metatarsal heads or flex zone), and higher arches.”

http://www.vasque.com/vasque-boot-technology/ultimate-fit-womens-specific-vasque-technology

I wonder, on that second item, wouldn’t everyone want “added support” versus less support? Perhaps it’s all about the “higher arches” mentioned later – the instep support might feel uncomfortable if you have lower arches.

And of course that’s the “average” woman’s foot geometry.

Women who don’t have high arches and a more average-man-like heel to ball ratio would probably enjoy the men’s model, and vice versa.

I’m sure all of this doesn’t matter for your average casual or office shoe, and I bet the regular brands don’t give this as much thought as athletic shoe companies do, where you’re going to be pushing the materials to their limits.

By: Jared

Jared — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:58:08 +0000

Which obviously means that we should jump to the assumption that every man who buys one is buying it for a woman, right?

By: Bill Angel

Bill Angel — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:54:22 +0000

The product announcement stated that VW will also produce a diesel engine version of this new model. According to the article:

“The diesel version will get 40 miles per gallon on the highway and 29 mpg in city driving”
(which is good mileage)

I agree that a gas-guzzling version is unattractive for several reasons. For one thing, the resell value of gas guzzlers fluctuates with the price of gasoline. If gas prices at the pump increase markedly, then the resell value of an automobile that is a gas guzzler drops more (as a percentage of original price) than that of another car of the same age that gets better gas mileage.

By: Arney Molstar

Arney Molstar — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:08:16 +0000

“You don’t drive a sports car, you drive a miata” – Even sporty fast cars can be considered feminine, and thus debunked of their title.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:42:51 +0000

O.o

Where I live Ford F-250s and 350s are very popular. I used to have a little Mazda pickup truck and was told it wasn’t a pickup. It could have been swallowed whole by those be-wheamoths.

@Simone
“Seems like a “men as the default” issue. “Feminine” cars are only for women, but “masculine” cars are for everyone…”

Exactly.

By: Meg

Meg — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:27:58 +0000

I think the point is that there are rarely ‘feminine’ cars for everyone.

By: Muscat

Muscat — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:08:05 +0000

It’s a little more complicated than that in that the new Mini (and, for that matter, probably the original Mini) was almost certainly in part inspired by the classic Bug design.