All-new VW Beetle debuts in Shanghai

Despite boasting a swathe of excellent cars in its line-up under a wide range of brands, the dominant mental image of Volkswagen would always be that of the Beetle. A product that traces its origins to the war times, the original Beetle sold 21.5 million examples worldwide in a production run that lasted almost 60 years, ending only recently in 2003.

Its replacement model, the New Beetle, entered the scene in 1998 and enjoyed a 13-year production run – nothing compared to its predecessor, but still more than twice as long as the normal model cycle these days. The New Beetle (yes, the word ‘New’ is part of its official name) also sold nowhere near as well as its predecessor, but with over 1 million units sold, it was hardly a failure either.

Now comes the all-new third generation Beetle, unveiled fresh off the stove at the Shanghai Auto Show. First market to receive the 3rd generation Beetle will be North America, at around September to October 2011, with Europe to follow immediately. Asian markets will start getting their cars by February 2012, and finally the South Americans will be seeing it around late 2012 or early 2013. Three equipment levels will be on offer, named “Beetle” (do we call it the Volkswagen Beetle Beetle?), “Design”, and “Sport” (as how you would say Volkswagen Beetle Sport).

The 3rd gen Beetle features nothing from the outgoing New Beetle (didn’t they see the problem they would cause by putting the word ‘New’ in its official name?), although it wasn’t exactly designed new from the ground up. Its platform is one generation ahead of the New Beetle, but it is still the venerable PQ35 platform which underpins the Golf and a load of other VW Group models. The engines too, are predictably familiar to us.

Upon its launch, the US market will receive, for the first time, a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine with 138hp output and 7.1 l/100km fuel consumption on the combined cycle. Options for petrol power would either be a 168hp 2.5-litre five-pot motor or a 197hp 2.0-litre TSI engine. All three variants are offered with 6-speed transmissions, with manual being standard for all. The 2.5 is optionally available with a 6-speed auto, whilst the other two can be specced up with a DSG instead.

The rest of the world, meanwhile, have a plethora of diesel and petrol charged four-pots to choose from. The EA 111 and EA 888 engines make up the petrol models, offering themselves in 1.2-litre, 1.4-litre, and 2.0-litre capacities. The entry-level 1.2 TSI engine comes with BlueMotion Technology that includes Stop/Start and battery regeneration. Vital stats of the entry-level Beetle read as such – 103hp output, 180kph top speed, 5.5 l/100km combined FC, and 129 g/km CO₂.

Moving up, we have the 1.4-litre twincharger and 2.0-litre turbo offering 158hp and 197hp respectively. In Europe, both these versions will be equipped with the XDS electronic diff lock found in the Golf GTI. Outside Europe, this feature will only be offered for the 2.0. Diesel options, meanwhile, are offered in 1.6 (103hp) or 2.0-litre (138hp) capacities. Manual transmission will be the standard offering, but VW will offer all models the option of upgrading to a DSG.

KON

Pictures: Official Volkswagen release.