Volkswagen said on Thursday it would stop producing its Beetle compact car in 2019, ending a model that looked back to the 1960s counterculture as the automaker prepares for a leap towards a future of mass-market electric cars.
The end of the Beetle comes at a turning point for Volkswagen. The German automaker's last three years have been rocked by the fallout from a scandal caused by its admitted cheating on diesel emissions tests. Now, Volkswagen is gearing up to launch a wave of electric vehicles to appeal to a new generation of environmentally conscious consumers - children and grandchildren