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Beetle mania spreads
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May 5, 1998: 6:47 p.m. ET
VW's retro bug is one of the most successful new car launches ever
From Correspondent Casey Wian
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - It's a rare sight these days -- a Volkswagen Beetle on a dealer's lot.
The car is selling out across the country and dealers are having a difficult time keeping them on their lots.
"Every one we get, we can sell instantly, and I have people coming up offering more for the cars. But we still have to go through our customer lists, the people who've put down deposits," said Barry Rice, operations manager at Volkswagen of Woodland Hills.
Baby Boomer nostalgia and a creative marketing campaign have propelled Volkswagen's redesigned Beetle to become one of the most successful new car launches in history. After just two months, about 8,000 have been sold in the United States. Dealers say they could easily sell twice as many, but Volkswagen has limited production to about 50,000 this model year.
Los Angeles car broker, and co-owner of Modena Motors, Zareh Narghizian has bought eight new Beetles from East Coast dealers by offering to pay a premium above their $16,000 sticker price. He's resold six for more than $22,000 and has just two left.
"In my opinion, it's worth a lot more money than what they're trying to sell it for in the dealerships. I get 10-15 calls a day on the car," said Narghizian
Some authorized dealers are also marking up new Beetle prices.
"Our dealers are independent businessmen. And it is true that perhaps some of them are charging over the manufacturers suggested retail. We're strongly urging them not to do this. We've taken some precautions in doing that, but we don't have any legal right to tell them that they can't sell the car over sticker," said Volkswagen spokesman Tony Fouladpor.
Dealers expect this wave of Beetlemania to last until next year, when Volkswagen plans to boost Beetle production by about 30 percent.
Volkswagen as a whole is experiencing some of its strongest car sales in ten years. The carmaker reported record-breaking sales for the month of April, surpassing any monthly total since 1987.
Volkswagen sold 20,562 new cars in the U.S. last month, an increase of 59 percent over last April's 12,957. It marks Volkswagen's best April sales in 11 years and best month since July 1987.
For the year, Volkswagen has sold 60,128 new cars, an increase of 41.5 percent over the same period in 1997.
Volkswagen's mid-size Passat sedan and wagon sales for April totaled 3,651, up 159 percent over 1997's mark of 1,409.
Cabrio results were 1,777 representing an increase of 103 percent over 1997.
Golf sales also enjoyed an upturn, with sales of 1,185 versus 859, an increase of 38 percent. Jetta sales, while brisk, were 8,217, just short of last year's strong mark of 9,141. 
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Volkswagen
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