2012 VW Beetle revealed

2012 VW Beetle – it’s official

Volkswagen has revealed the 2012 VW Beetle ahead of a debut at the Shanghai and New York Motor Shows.

Back to the future again with the reveal today – ahead of a debut at both New York and Shanghai – of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.

Where do you go when you update a car that’s already a pastiche of an original? It seems VW’s answer is you don’t go anywhere, you just fiddle at the margins. So the 2012 VW Beetle ends up looking like the ‘New’ Beetle from 1998, but with the odd sharper line.

Lower, longer and wider than the last VW Beetle (that’s the ’98 Beetle, not the Hitler-mobile), VW say every single piece of the 21012 Beetle is new, but from a casual glance the only things you’re likely to notice – unless you’re a complete Beetle nut – is a more coupe-ish roofline and bigger alloys. Look hard and you can spot LED daytime lights and a spoiler out back.

Inside VW has fitted a sound system designed with Fender, added SatNav for the first time to the Beetle and dumped the flower vase.

Under the bonnet there’s a choice of a single turbodiesel – a 1.6 with 103bhp – or a trio of turbo petrols – a 1.2 with 103bhp, a 1.4 with 158bhp and a 2.0 with 197bhp. You can opt for VW’s seven-speed dual-clutch ‘box and the Eco star of the range will be the 1.6 diesel with BlueMotion Technology that should deliver 65mpg and 112g/km.

The 2012 Beetle will be built in Mexico, just like the last Beetle, all the better to serve its only real markets – the Americas.

If you want to grab a 2012 Beetle in the Uk you’ll have to wait until early 2012, although VW will take orders from the Summer onwards, by which time we should have prices.

Sadly, the 2012 VW Beetle still doesn’t seem to convince in the way the MINI or Fiat 500 manages.