10 European Cars Americans Absolutely Love

Photo by Eddy Clio

3. Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen New Beetle was the cute car that started the retro-futurist design craze. It was a modernized version of the legendary VW Beetle and struck a chord with American consumers who had grown tired of standard conservative car designs and had fond memories of the “Bugs” from their youth.

Over the years, the design of the Volkswagen Beetle has evolved from its functionality-driven origins to the irrepressibly cheerful face of the previous-generation New Beetle. More recently, the folks at VW dropped the “New” in the car’s name and gave this latest-generation Beetle a more aggressive masculine look. But it’s still unmistakably a Beetle.

Volkswagen offers its Beetle hatchback in four main trim levels. The base trim will be known as the 2.5L until the engine that name refers to is replaced, resulting in a change of name to 1.8T. Equipment will be the same, though. Other trims include the R-Line, diesel-powered TDI and the GSR, which is essentially a loaded R-Line with a unique color scheme. The convertible version of the Beetle is also popular.