Only 2 Volkswagen Beetles were sold in the United States in 1949.
That tiny figure marked the Beetle’s tentative American beginning. Volkswagen’s first American shipment arrived in 1949, when the compact German car looked radically different from the large, powerful sedans favored by U.S. buyers. The two cars were sold as curiosities rather than as the start of an established mass-market brand.
The Beetle’s rear-mounted, air-cooled engine, small dimensions, and low fuel consumption eventually became its selling points, but those qualities initially worked against it in a country where fuel was relatively inexpensive and cars were growing larger. Early American distribution was also limited, and Volkswagen had not yet developed the dealer network or advertising style that later made the model famous.
Sales rose gradually during the 1950s before accelerating in the 1960s. By 1968, U.S. Beetle sales peaked at nearly 400,000 cars. The contrast between two sales in 1949 and its later cultural dominance is one of the model’s most striking success stories.