The new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle silhouette has been revealed by Oprah Winfrey as she does a Beetle giveaway as part of the “Oprah’s Ultimate Favorite Things” giveaway. The US television host is winding up her career with this kind of gesture as audience members get expensive gifts bestowed on them.

Brand endorsement of this level will only be a coup for the new Volkswagen Beetle, especially as the popularity of the model has fallen away, particularly with revival challengers like the Mini and Fiat 500 on the market. VW USA has confirmed that it was Oprah who approached them about the giveaway. She has apparently seen the completed new car but the new Beetle won’t be officially revealed until spring next year and the audience members present at the show will receive their car in autumn next year.

As we already guessed the 2012 Beetle will be a sportier model with stiffer suspension, dual exahusts, 19-inch wheels and sports seats. It will also get all the modern comforts like Bluetooth technology and touch screen console. Given the emergence of this new marketing project, it would seem that the Beetle is production ready, confirming the spy shots we’ve seen recently. It will be available with diesel and petrol engines but there’s no word on a performance or hybrid model yet.

Source | Autoblog.com

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The new Volkswagen Beetle set to appear in 2012 could get a boost in future years with Martin Winterkorn confirming that he would like to see a rear-engine VW Beetle developed later in the new life cycle of the iconic car. The reports come from an interview with Manager Magazin, picked up then by The German Car Blog. The rear-engine model would appear with rear-wheel drive but given that there’s no time frame attached to the reports, we guess that this is a project in the pipeline perhaps for a much later date - like 2020 when the third modern generation of the Beetle is to turn up.

The Volkswagen Beetle was the first revival model on the market and it appealed very much to young, female drivers wanting a cool-looking citycar and not necessarily VW Beetle purists. A rear-engine model could see a return to its roots, and the coming 2012 model is taking the first steps in that direction with a longer wheelbase, return to a sporty design and a more driveable model for those wanting the real experience.

Will we see a rear-engine model in the future or is it just a pipedream model from a VW exec reminiscing on the past? We’ll have to wait and see, but we think Winterkorn’s probably not on his own in harking back to something like this.

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These spy shots of the Volkswagen New Beetle show that in the new version of the new bug we’ll be getting something a lot sportier than previously. The New Beetle has a lowered and more sloping roof line and what looks like a wider and lower wheelbase. The wheel arches seem to take on a slightly more flared look as well. VW might not be able to replicate the original success of the Beetle revival but this is certainly what it needed to modernise it more.

When you think about it, the New Beetle is really more of a 90’s car and now that we’re nearly in 2011, a few tweaks were well overdue. This, especially considering the massive success of the Mini revival and the Fiat 500 following closely behind, the New Beetle needed to stay vintage cute but tap into its sports soul a bit more.

Rumours are that the New Beetle could be revealed at the Los Angeles show and while clearly what we’ve got is a near-ready car, it’s still in testing phase at the moment. If you wanted this for Christmas, you might have to wait. The 2012 Beetle will be based on the Golf VI platform and while it should include VW’s 2.5-litre petrol plant and the 2.0 TDI diesel, company sources say that something more powerful will also be available. To be precise, something you can take to the track….

Volkswagen 2012 New Beetle spy shots

Source | Autoblog.com

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Volkswagen’s New Beetle has made it onto a list of the ugliest cars of the past 50 years in what is not great timing for the company as it (finally!) prepares the successor to the New Beetle. The list was compiled by Business Week, and includes some classic ugly cars and a few surprises, too. Making the list was also the Jeep Compass, Toyota Prius and 2002 BMW 7-series.

The New Beetle update should appear in 2012 and might be anything from a sportier version, to a low-cost entry level option to revive sales. If this ugly car list is anything to go by, Volkswagen is going to really have to pull the rabbit out of the hat on this one. See all the ugly cars at The Car Connection.

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The Volkswagen New Beetle is set to debut in 2012, with a bigger back seat and hopefully some other changes that will revive its lagging fortune. The small city car has proved to be a model that Volkswagen subsequently ignored, but the success of the Fiat 500 shows there’s still a market out there for small car revivals.

If our reports last year are anything to go by, the Volkswagen New Beetle could get sporty, making it far more competitive to the Mini and Fiat 500 than it previously was. While sources indicate that Volkswagen is going for a low-cost, entry-level vehicle, we think that the new-new Beetle is going to have to be something special to get back the sales it first had on appearing in 1998. We’re thinking coupe, sports-style (Mini coupe concept anyone?), meaning that the low-cost bracket might not be so achievable.

Source | Autoblog

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