INTERVIEW
Finding retro niches in an electric future
An electric vehicle push could bring a surge in oddball concept cars, Volkswagen brand boss tells Michael Taylor
Zero-emission modern versions of 1970s cult classics like the Dune Buggy and the Kübelwagen are being seriously considered at Volkswagen (VW). The German company’s brand boss Herbert Diess thinks bringing emotional cars back should be a priority and he is keen to rebirth Bruce Meyer’s dune buggy and the Kübelwagen, the German military equivalent of the Willys Jeep. Sources at VW have suggested it will show an all-electric Dune Buggy concept car in 2018, possibly at the Los Angeles Auto Show, under the Californian sunshine that gave birth to the custom classic. It’s part of an almost-anything-goes push for concept cars to enliven the Volkswagen brand for the US, in particular, but for the rest of the world as well. It’s a push given credence by the planned flexibility of the Volkswagen Group’s upcoming MEB battery-electric architecture, which will roll out to at least five production VW’s before 2022. "I think the world lacks characterful cars, you know?" Volkswagen brand CEO Herbert...
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