Volkswagen sales fell worldwide to 1,082,098 passenger cars in 1972, but U.S. sales rebounded somewhat, to 344,137 Beetles and Super Beetles, of which 8491 were Cabriolets. The basic Beetle Sedan and Sunroof Sedan soldiered on but the Super Beetle also provided the chassis for the Cabriolet. This year marked the Beetle outselling the Ford Model T, when the 15,007,034th car came off the production line on February 17. It was a 1972 Super Beetle Sedan and 1,000 Marathon Beetles were painted a special blue metallic color with pressed steel wheels, but sold only in Europe. Changes were minor for the 1972 Beetle. The rear window was 11 percent larger, the safety steering wheel now had four padded spokes, the safety belts had inertia reels and a parcel shelf covered the rear storage area.

The base Beetle Sedan still cost $1780 and the Sunroof Sedan increased only slightly to $1999. However, the Super Beetle now cost $2159 and the Cabriolet jumped to $2599.