I still think they missed the mark with the newer generations. The original was a simple, functional no thrills design(at least at first). It was a unique design built to be a barebones vehicle for everyone, even on those on a budget.
The newer ones were nice modern attempts to ignite the feelings the first generation. One thing they were highly engineered and more expensive so they weren't a go to first car. One of the things that helped sell the original was the inexpensive price tag. Volkswagen missed it on this mark.
