The Volkswagen Bluesport Concept was thought to have a bright future when it first bowed at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but the global economic slum will likely keep the roadster from ever making production.
When the VW Bluesport Concept first graced the show stage in January, three different versions of the roadster were under development – one for VW, one for Audi and one for Porsche. However, Porsche has since dropped out of the running for an entry-level model and it doesn’t look as though there is enough of a remaining market for VW execs to green light the Bluesport Concept.
“It is a niche product and especially in crisis times like this it will be a challenge to come up with a volume we could require to earn money with it.” VW Communications Manager Christian Haacke told Drive. Haacke added the Bluesport Concept is not completely dead, but its fate is ultimately up to the VW bean counters.
The Bluesport Concept would have likely served as the basis for the long-rumored Audi R4 and new-age Porsche 914.
05/19, 3:42 PM
posted by:
atoms
DAMMIT!!
05/19, 3:55 PM
posted by:
anti-believer
They already have a convertible that doesn’t sell. So why have two of them?
05/19, 4:02 PM
posted by:
NRG
It was a nice dream. Maybe in the future it will be produced.
05/19, 4:04 PM
posted by:
Stinky007
A victim of their own success unfortunately!
The Porsche version would be the most expensive, but they would still have to price it under the Boxster to sell. That would mean right smack into BMW/Audi/Merc’s territory. Then, the Audi version would still have to be cheaper than that to sell. That would mean being in the same price range as the TT, which means competing with themselves. Same thing for VW, they would probably have priced it under 30k, right in Golf R20T and Scirroco’s R20T territory.
So, too internal competition seems to have killed this one folks. Don’t worry, you can always buy a Golf, Scirroco, TT or S3 in roughly the same price range covered by the entire Bluesport-based car range. None of them would be RWD, but you can rest assured they are all glorified Golfs, and people love Golfs, even when they cost more than 30k…
05/19, 4:21 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
That f-n sucks.
05/19, 4:39 PM
posted by:
Dante_JoseCuervo
Well… there goes a great idea, sad day.
05/19, 5:02 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
I’m neither disappointed nor surprised, because I’ve never been fooled into believing that VW gives a rat’s ass about enthusiasts.
05/19, 5:06 PM
posted by:
leftwingagenda
boooo
05/19, 5:45 PM
posted by:
xcatchmyshadowx
i still think they are gonna build it, i mean why not??
it is sexy, not too expensive and eco-friendly
05/19, 10:46 PM
posted by:
A4
porsche you ****s
05/20, 6:59 AM
posted by:
Hyperion
F*** you Volkswagen (and F*** you Porsche for contributing to this outcome). First you say you’re going to build a real Beetle successor in a rear-engined small car…. and chicken out on that in favor of a rebadged FWD Polo based version. Then you announce plans to build a cool, affordable mid-engined roadster with a powerful turbodiesel…. and now tell us you basically are canceling that one too.
I guess it’s a miracle at all that the Rabbit– oops! Sorry– GOLF GTI and R20 are still going into production.
It’s just sad that the only offering this company really has to express driving fun is a lineup of high performance Rabbi–darn, there I go again– GOLFS. They even announced many plans to go back to their rear engined roots with fun, affordable cars again and one after another have killed each proposed model program.
It seems that an “affordable” lineup in VW’s eyes has more to do with “more of the same” than “listen to your real customers instead of alienating them in favor of courting Toyota Camry buyers”
05/20, 1:59 PM
posted by:
A4
^exactly, they’ve been pulling this crap for years. GX3, Microbus, the rear engined platform, a 6-speed option in the R32, they screw up their best potential products.