Beetle Mania!

2012 VW Beetle (New York)

It seems the new Bug has already made its way to the Big Apple. Today, VW officially revealed the all-new VW Beetle today in New York. A lot of Beetle fans turned up to look at the new Bug as it was presented by Klaus Bischoff, VW's head of design.

"We took the current Beetle and threw everything about it out the window and had the original Beetle in the studio when we started redesign in 2007" - Klaus Bischoff, VW's head of Design

It turns out a lot of people like the new Beetle. There were some people who said, "it doesn't look like a Beetle anymore." Yeah, that's what they said about the last one. But anyway, VW showed off two models of the Beetle, the standard model and the Turbo. It looks like the Turbo will carry VW's 2.0-liter 200 horsepower turbo-4 engine. And since it's a small car, expect it to be quite quick. VW's Global Marketing Director, Luca de Meo, says that thanks to the Beetle's new XDS electric front differential, it's more nimble and agile, it's like driving Herbie or a mosquito.

"the fact that the 200-horsepower turbocharged motor makes this a 'toy for a boy'; and the Fender audio that includes some first-time features such as the Panasonic technology in the tweeters." - Luca de Meo, VW Global Marketing Director

Basically what VW is trying to do is make the Beetle less feminine as it was back in Y2K. Of course, women may love it, but for men who love power, like I do, they hope that the new Beetle has enough to please them.

"We want to make a statement without making compromises, to get out of niche and into core demand in many markets, not just the States."- Luca de Meo, VW Global Marketing Director

So, all-in-all, the Beetle looks like it's one for the masses: a revolution of something that was ugly into something more streamlined. In my opinion, it looks like a bubbly Golf. There is some Golf-ness in this car that some people can't see. I'll take it for a test drive this fall. Top Gear so far says it's not half bad. The sporty styling they think is actually much better and the interior is top notch. I think Clarkson & Hammond have the deciding vote on this one. The all-new Beetle will come out this fall at a pretty decent price.

Black Betty

2012 VW Beetle

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the all-new 2012 VW Beetle. All those Oprah fans who received a key to one last year, well done. This car looks much better than the horrid trash created years ago, and even before that. What's strange is that VW say the design of this car was based on the original ugly Beetle. I do see some of that, but more of that awesome Ragster Concept a couple years back with the longer roof line and the aggressive windshield. Anyway, on to the car now. It's longer and wider than the old trash they've created. It features some Golf and Scirocco stylings so it is best believed that the car may be using a Golf chassis. There are new headlights with LED Daytime running lamps. Around the back, you'll see that this car has definitely gone through a serious makeover as it features new taillamps, a new spoiler, and an aggressive pair of exhausts, one on each side of the bumper.

Rear View

Inside, you'll find seating for four and some new amenities such as leather seats, navigation, an adaptive stereo system; they've even put in some carbon fiber on the dash for some models to make it a bit more aggressive. Not to mention, I'm delighted to say that they've removed the ugly flower that was standard on that last old trash that they had. No one needed that thing. Even men who bought one felt unmanly with that ugly flower on the steering wheel. Anyway, as far as power goes, VW has promised four engines for the Beetle, with three of them possibly coming over here. First, there's a 1.2-liter 104 horsepower inline-4 engine. Moving on up, there's the 1.4-liter 148 horsepower i-4 engine, the 1.6-liter 104 horsepower Blue Motion turbodiesel engine, and, you'll be excited to here, a 2.0-liter 200 horsepower turbo-4 engine like in the Golf GTI. All engines will be mated with either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed DSG transmission. The spoiler comes only with the TSI models (147 horsepower - 200 horsepower). Prices have not been announced yet, but soon will be as this car is set arrive here this fall. But, before it does, you'll be able to see it in person at the Shanghai Motor Show and New York International Auto Show this week, so I'll have some live pictures of this car for you this weekend.