It’s not a New Beetle but it is a new Beetle, a Beetle, Volkswagen says, for the 21st Century. Never mind that we’re into the second decade of the new century. The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle was introduced in New York today and we were there.
It was a global debut, actually, the Beetle almost simultaneously debuting in Shanghai in conjunction with the Shanghai Auto Show, in Berlin and shown to the press in New York prior to the New York Auto Show.
And the theme of the new car was "forget cute, we’re going back to our roots." Instead of the rounded, three-circle profile of the New Beetle, which dates back to 1998, the new Beetle’s profile comes very close to the original Beetle—officially the “Type 1”—with a longer hood and a windshield closer to the driver, and a rear that tapers off less steeply than the New Beetle.
The new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle is bigger—lower, longer, wider—than the outgoing New Beetle. Though a half inch shorter, top to the ground, the 2012 Beetle is 3.3 inches wider and six inches longer. Wheels start at 17-inch diameter with an option for 19-inch diameter rims.
And it will be more powerful. In addition to the base 2.5-liter naturally-aspirated 5-cylinder engine used in the New Beetle of late (as well as the Jetta), the 2012 Beetle will also be available with the 2.0-liter TDI turbodiesel as used in the Jetta, and the 200-horse 2.0 turbo four. And the latter version will, yes, have “turbo” in script on the rear deck.
Additionally, the 2012 Beetle buyers will have the option of dual exhaust and performance handling packages, and two-tone sport seats. The new VW will be the first automobile to have available Fender premium audio from the same people famous for the electric guitars and amplifiers, true American icons. A three-gauge pack looking like a sport compact aftermarket part is optional as well, the center gauge a stopwatch.
VW brand design chief Klaus Bischoff made it clear that the new Beetle from the start would be more masculine. The New Beetle had been approaching chick car status, with almost two of three going to female buyers. In a design clinic with sport compact owners, not a single one would drive a New Beetle. The new Beetle was up, though not to twenty percent, but statistically that’s an infinite improvement. "Masculine" was a word Bischoff certainly used more than once. Beetle as Barbie car? VW doesn’t want to lose that customer, but the new car should open market segment previously untapped.
Global product planning chief Rainer Michel in a one-on-one interview said that the new VW Beetle would emphasize personalization, with twelve color choices—although no fire engine red, oddly enough—the performance options and a lot of accessories from the VW dealers. The Mini Cooper will be the new Volkswagen Beetle’s main direct competitor, though other cars with personalities or coupes will also be shopped by potential Beetle customers.
Michel said that the design charge was to draw from the original Beetle and therefore has a top-hinged glovebox, and the dash center will cause déjà vu by anyone familiar with the early Beetles. Similar to the Mini and the retro-styled 2012 Fiat 500 (not a wholly direct competitor to the Beetle—it’s smaller), the 2012 Beetle brings the outside color inside with exterior-colored panels.
Michel was also eager to show off the practical stuff, including the trunk, surprisingly large trunk even with the folding rear seatbacks raised, and the rear seat headroom, which had been compromised by the old New Beetle’s profile.
The new Volkswagen Beetle won’t be a static thing, however. Bi-xenon headlights will be available for the first time on a Beetle sometime after production begins. A convertible will go into production in summer 2012; the convertible stack will look similar to the previous Beetles’ but not be quite so large. A special high-performance R-model will join the fleet, something that Michel was very emphatic about. The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, Beetle TDI and Beetle Turbo will arrive in September or October 2011.
And maybe we’re reading too much into this, but when Michel pointed out that to make the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle look more like the original, the rear fenders of the new car are separate pieces, we couldn’t help but ask whether this would make it easier to put wider fenders on in the future, he responded that he couldn’t say. There are several ways that response can be taken, but we’ll note that he didn’t say now. Again, that may be wishful thinking.
But then again, it’s a new century and a new era and no longer a New Beetle. Who knows what could happen with the new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle and the bugs that come after.
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