I think the issue with the newbie is, and I'm trying to remove sentiment and bias from this assessment, they were never good cars to start with.
Being good does not prevent a car being sought after, loved or revered, (eventually), however this is generally due to historical significance or character - the newbie in my opinion has neither.
It was born from the worst bits of Mk3 and Mk4 Golf platforms, built to a profit margin, with acres of below par, cheap and nasty plastics and sent out the door with a very poor range of engines which lacked power or economy in any appealing combination (I'm thinking petrols here, diesels.... meh) and with very poor rust prevention.
Added to this, they were conceived and built at t a time in the early noughties when VW quality took a serious nose dive - Mk5 Golf vs Mk4, T5 Transporter vs T4 etc, etc so the cards were ultimately stacked against them.
Other than the shape, which especially in Mk1 format I think they absolutely nailed, they have no redeeming features. There weren't fun, fast, cheap, well built, high quality, long lasting or characterful. Shape aside, they were just dull, run-of-the-mill, below average disposable cars.
As I say, my thoughts are with bias, brand loyalty and sentiment removed.
On this basis, the modest numbers produced, rust, poor mechanical reliability and general low desirability has seen numbers diminish via the various routes highlighted in the OP.
FWD (only way it would've made it to production) meant it was never going to be on the same playing field as the Mini or Fiat 500 etc.
