The all-new VW Beetle, due to launch at next year’s Detroit motor show, will be a "radical design", according to company sources.
Sources have told Autocar that VW hasn’t gone down the Mini route by just tweaking the car’s styling.
See Autocar.co.uk's artist's impression of the next VW Beetle
The Beetle’s designers have made every effort to be daring, and to produce a completely fresh, modern take on the classic VW.
As with today’s Beetle, the car will be assembled at VW’s Puebla plant in Mexico, alongside the next Jetta. The two cars share their front-drive underpinnings and some driveline combinations.
This gives the Beetle a reworked chassis with wider tracks and a longer wheelbase than today’s model. Insiders are confident it will better the current Beetle’s dynamics, with a more compliant ride.
Suspension is MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. However, the 210bhp 2.0-litre range-topper will have a multi-link rear to improve handling.
Engines will include a 105bhp 1.2, a 160bhp 1.4 and a 210bhp 2.0 litre. A US-bound 170bhp 2.5-litre five-cylinder is not destined for Europe. Diesels will include the new 105bhp 1.6 and a 140bhp 2.0 litre.
A hybrid is also planned, with a similar drivetrain to that of the Jetta CC from this year’s Detroit show: a 150bhp turbocharged/supercharged 1.4 with a 27bhp electric motor.
The new Beetle is expected to go on sale in the UK in May 2011. A cabriolet will follow about a year later.
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Re: VW plans 'radical' new Beetle
The original was a design aped from Hans Ledwinka’s Tatra T97; basically a backarseward air-cooled front wheel drive. The original made sense because it was cheap to manufacture the simple air cooled design, the...Ahem…people’s car. What the new Beetle has to do with the original other than the retro look is superfluous but most won’t realize that and purchase it anyway.
Re: VW plans 'radical' new Beetle
What I would really like to see would be a BMW interpretation of the Austin/Morris 18-22 Series. With brown corduroy seat facings and at least two ashtrays in each door. And a faithful copy of the original brown dashboard, but in modern touchy-feely slush moulding, so that people would realise they were dealing with real quality.
Within 7 months of this car appearing, Audi would produce a rival. They would call it the Audi Ambassador, and claim it was a 5-door coupe.
Re: VW plans 'radical' new Beetle
Replace VW with BMW.
Replace Beetle with Mini.
Replace Hitler's Germany with Macmillan's Britain.