2012 Volkswagen Beetle to arrive in India

Volkswagen has officially announced that they will be bringing the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle to the Auto Expo in January 2012. The company will also use the Auto Expo platform to highlight their BlueMotion technologies and its fuel-efficient cars as a part of the company's 'Think Blue' campaign, which was introduced this year with the launch of VW Passat.
 
The VW Beetle in its 3rd generation was first seen on the sets of a popular American talk show and was later officially unveiled at the Shanghai Auto show and the New York Auto show. The 21st century Beetle has been built using the Golf IV platform and the new model will feature some significant changes in terms of design and aesthetics. The new model is 152mm longer, 84mm wider and 12mm shorter than the current model. It improves the rear headroom and bumps up boot space. The typical round headlights of the Beetle will now don an optional bi-xenon headlight with LED daytime running lights. The company is most likely to introduce the new Beetle with three engine options - a 2.5-litre 5-cylinder engine with 170PS of max power, a 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine with 140PS of max power and a 2.0-litre TSI turbocharged Sport model with 200PS of max power. A 6-speed manual will be standard while the 6-speed DSG will be an added option. For India we expect the 2.0-litre diesel mated to an automatic gearbox, since the combination is already present in various VAG cars like the VW Passat, VW Jetta, Skoda Laura and Skoda Superb.
 
The company has not yet revealed any plans to launch the new Beetle in the Indian market. But we are expecting the company to launch the new 2012 VW Beetle in the first quarter of 2012 to contend in the premium small car segment which is about to expand with the upcoming Mini brand.