The Concept of the New
Volkswagen MicroBus

A couple of years ago, Volkswagen went back in time and brought back the ever popular Beetle. This year (2001), Volkswagen took a trip back about 40 years, to when the Microbus first came to America. Before the curtains were lowered from Volkswagen’s latest look back in time, Dr. Martin Winterkorn, a member of the Volkswagen board of management in charge of research and development, took the time to discuss two of Volkswagen’s latest production models. The first was the new Passat. It was equiped with a sleek new style, clear-lens headlights, defined radiator, and a stiffer body with tighter body gaps to improve driving characteristics. The other was a new model called the Jetta wagon. It had 34 cubic feet of cargo room and would be available initially with either a 2 liter in-line 4 or a 2.8 liter V6 engine, and available the next summer with a turbocharged 1.8 liter (150 horsepower). Dr. Jens Neumann, a member of the Volkswagen board of management and chairman of the North America region, spoke about the numbers. Volkswagen sales for the year 2000 in the United States were their best since 1973 (up 12.6 percent over 1999). Overall, Volkswagen sold 567,728 cars in North America (an 18 percent increase over 1999). Then the Microbus concept was introduced by Volkswagen. It was created by Volkswagen’s design studio in Simi Valley, California, specifically for the U.S. The concept was not quite a copy of the original, but an "evolutionary" look at the original Microbus. The new Microbus comes with large sliding doors, narrow Xenon headlights, and wider wheel arches to provide more space for the new 20 inch wheels. The new Microbus has three rows of seats and a seven-inch video screen inside. At the time, there are no plans to produce this vehicle, however, this could change based on the reactions of consumers. Also included on display were some small models of other possible versions of a new Microbus, including a camper van and pickup truck.