Guys never seemed to warm up to the Volkswagen New Beetle, and it doesn't take a dual master's degree in psychology and automotive design to figure out why. The outgoing Beetle featured sheetmetal that could only be described as cutesy, and many (most?) men tend to shy away from vehicles that might result in the questioning of their manhood.

Only 29 percent of New Beetle sales went to men, but Bloomberg reports that a more masculine design has put the 2012 Beetle back on dudes' shopping lists. Since the Beetle went on sale in September, men have accounted for a much more robust 43 percent of overall sales. In general, men also appear to be quite fond of diesel power, as dudes accounted for 70 percent of oil-burning models. This suggests Volkswagen's announcement of a 2013 Beetle TDI arriving later this summer could boost the VW's male contingency even further.

The more chiseled redesign is, of course, credited for the Beetle's newfound male suitors, and commercials geared towards a male audience likely haven't hurt. But while the Beetle has been more appealing to men while selling better than the old model, we're guessing Volkswagen would like to see immense improvement from February's 1,303 units sold.Butch new Volkswagen Beetle earning more man love originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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Lift kit, knobby tires, and stinger exhaust Give 'em a few years on the used car market, might have to get myself a baja bug