51 Years Ago Today : Volkswagen Beetle Became The Best-selling Car Ever

On this day February 17th 1972, the 15,007,034th example of the Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line.

This production record set by the iconic Volkswagen Beetle beat the Ford Model T’s record set in 1927.

Beetle’s status as the best-selling vehicle stood for 25 years until 1997 when it was overtaken by the Toyota Corolla.

In all, 21,529,464 examples of the Volkswagen Beetle were built between 1938 – 2003, of which 330,251 were Cabriolet.

On this day February 17th 1972, the 15,007,034th example of the original Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line in Germany to beat the best-selling record set by Ford Model T in 1927.

The Volkswagen Beetle’s status as the best-selling vehicle in the car industry stood for 25 years until 1997 when it was overtaken by the Toyota Corolla, due to the Corolla’s good fuel mileage.

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Officially the Volkswagen Type 1, the original Volkswagen Beetle popularly known as Ijapa (Tortoise) in Nigeria was manufactured and marketed by German automaker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003.

In all, 21,529,464 (over 21.5 million) examples of the two-door, rear-engine economy car were built (15,444,858 in Germany and 3.3 million manufactured in Brazil) between 1938 – 2003, of which 330,251 Cabriolet.

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