On this day in history: Beetle surpassed Model T as best-selling vehicle in 1972 as the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line. When the vehicle first arrived to the U.S. in the 1950s it didn’t appeal to most Americans because of its Nazi connection. In 1933 Adolf Hitler wanted to create affordable cars and collaborated with Ferdinand Porsche to create the “people’s car.” The vehicle wasn’t accepted in mainstream America until 1959, when advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach created a campaign promoting the car’s positive characteristics, i.e. small, compact and consumer friendly.
1959 Ad Campaign
This ground breaking campaign skyrocketed production of Volkswagen Beetles and over the next few years became the top-selling auto import in the U.S.
Henry Ford’s Model T was the world’s original best-selling car and produced over 15 million Model Ts in the 19 years it was manufactured.
After 60 years of producing the Beetle and over 21 million vehicles were made, the last original Beetle left the assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, on July 30, 2003.
The final original VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) was produced at Puebla, Mexico, 65 years after its original launch, ending an unprecedented 58-year production run. Photo: Hasse Aldhammer