In what could be one of the first public sightings of the brand new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle outside of a motor show, Youtube user JWalters84 passed by and filmed his short encounter with the car on a road in Laredo, Texas. What was it doing there? Well, who knows, but it’s safe to assume that it’s probably a pre-production model used either by dealers or by VW Group employees since sales of the third generation of the Beetle in the USA will not start until September.
The 2012 Beetle will be offered worldwide in the three equipment lines “Beetle”, “Design” and “Sport”, and a choice of diesel and gasoline engines, depending on the market. For example, the engine lineup in North America includes a 40mpg 2.0-liter diesel with 140HP, and two gasoline units, a 2.5-liter inline-five delivering 170HP and a 2.0-liter turbo churning out 200 horses.
Europeans, Australians and consumers in certain Asian countries, will get a broader and more modern choice of engines such as the 160HP 1.4-liter TSI and the 105HP 1.2-liter TSI Bluemotion with Stop/Start and battery regeneration tech that returns a combined fuel economy of 5.5 lt/100km (42.8mpg).
Source: Youtube via Jalopnik
VIDEO