A “Beetle” was not a shape, a head light fixture, nor is it a flower holder (which was a traditional addition to beetles in the 60s. That’s why New Beetles have them). The Beetle was a design. The Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche to be specifically the way it was.
You wouldn’t agree with me if I said a Nissan Sentra was the same thing as a Nissan Maxima would you? why not? They look almost exactly the same. How about Lincoln Town Cars and Cadillac Sevilles. Some models are nearly indistinguishable. What’s the difference then? Or how about Ford Mustangs and Ford Focus cars? They don’t look alike but they are all Ford.
The difference is design. It’s what’s under the hood and what’s in the cab. The Beetle has an engine in the rear, it has vinyl or cloth interior, it is extremely light, it has some sort of manual transmission (some Beetles had an automatic stick.), it has torsion bars for suspension, it’s air-cooled, and the list goes on. The engine itself is specially designed for the Beetle. The concept of the Beetle was “the people’s car”; Porsche spent many years designing his dream (the Beetle). It had to be cheap, have great miles per gallon, be tough as nails, and more. It is a model as specific and intentional as a GTO.
New Beetles are were first designed in the late 90s by a company that had no affiliation with Volkswagen and they are built upon the basic idea of the Golf of the time. In other words, a New Beetle is nothing more than a strangely shaped Golf.

If “looks” make the car, then this new path for Volkswagen is profane. If there is anything more to a car, then the true Beetle has been dead for years.

They should stop “New Beetle” development. If VW moves forward they will have to change the body up. NB sales are down and they keep coming out with bad limited’s to revitalize it. IMO, as a New Beetle driver and long time VW owner it should have been killed off a bit ago. This would aid in the nostalgia aspect.

Anyways, I do like these. I never got around to it but my thoughts were more inline with a SEAT Leon Cupra. The curves are there for the obvious New Beetle comparison but the lines are more SEAT. Even the red rear shot is Posche Boxster.

This I would buy.