Volkswagen AG stunned and delighted the audience of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Monday when it offered each person a free, all-new, 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.
The big giveaway on Winfrey's annual "Favorite Things" show echoed a similar stunt in 2004, when the audience received Pontiac G6 sedans.
Winfrey, who owns a Beetle, reached out to Volkswagen, telling executives the car is one of her "favorite things," Jonathan Browning, president of Volkswagen of America, said.
Volkswagen revealed only the silhouette Monday of the new model, a sleeker and sportier version of the current Beetle, a contemporary take on VW's first car. VW hasn't disclosed the price of the redesigned New Beetle, but the current model starts at $18,690.
The German automaker gave away symbolic keys to 275 cars that audience members will receive next year.
While the marketing ploy on the hugely popular show reached a vast audience, it may reinforce the Beetle's image as a woman's car.
Two-thirds of Beetle drivers are women, with an average age of 52, said Art Spinella, president of CNW Research in Bandon, Ore.
Browning told reporters VW had designed a sportier, more muscular Beetle to appeal to a wider audience. "We're reaching out to new buyers, but we want to take the current buyer set with us."
Many of VW's models, such as the GTI, appeal more to men, Spinella said. "There's no reason not to have a female-oriented vehicle in the lineup."
The 2012 New Beetle is one of three all-new models - the others are the redesigned Jetta and a new midsize car - that VW is rolling out to boost its share of the U.S. market, now just 2.2 percent.
By 2018, Volkswagen's namesake VW brand aims to more triple its U.S. sales, to 800,000 cars and light trucks.
Whatever goals VW may have for the next Beetle, "their broader edict is getting VW embedded in the mainstream of American culture channels," said Bill Visnic, a senior analyst at Edmunds AutoObserver.com.
"You don't get at that more directly than Oprah."