VW Says “More Masculine” 2012 Beetle will Appeal to Men, Convertible Said to Join the Range Next Summer

Volkswagen is confident that a higher percentage of men as well as younger consumers will buy the 2012 Beetle compared to its predecessor when U.S. sales start in September.

VW of America’s Vice President of marketing and strategy Rainer Michel told Autonews that “a more masculine appearance, including a higher beltline, and 20 more horsepower for the base model, should do the trick”.

While female buyers accounted for more than 65% of the previous Beetle’s sales, Michel believes that the percentage for the all-new 2012 model will be split between the two sexes.

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VW Begins Series Production of 2012 Beetle in Mexico

Volkswagen announced that it has commenced regular production of the 2012 Beetle at its factory in Puebla, Mexico, where its predecessor was also built. To mark the occasion, Germany’s Federal Foreign Minister Dr. Guido Westerwelle, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Board Member for Production and Logistics at VW Passenger Cars Hubert Waltl visited the plant in Puebla. Read more »

Video: Jay Leno Takes the New 2012 VW Beetle for a Spin

Some guys have all the luck. Like Jay Leno. Not only is he a famous and wealthy TV presenter, but he also gets to drive a bevy of new cars well before anyone else.

After driving the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell, which won’t enter production for another two years, and the new SLS Roadster wasn’t enough, Leno was also invited to VW’s headquarters at Wolfsburg to try out the new Beetle.

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VW Releases Fresh Batch of Photos of New 2012 Beetle

Not that the 2012 Beetle needs it, but Volkswagen wants to keep its newcomer in the headlines until it launches into the market this fall starting with the U.S. in September, followed by Germany in October, the rest of Europe in November, the UK in January 2012, Asia in February 2012 and finally South America by the beginning of 2013.

To do so, the German automaker came out today with a fresh batch of images as well some new info explaining some of the thinking behind the creation of the 2012 Beetle.

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ABT Kicks Off 2012 VW Beetle Tuning Party with the Speedle

The 2012 VW Beetle tuning wars have began. Leaving aside the Beetle RS project with some very light styling modifications by the enthusiast website VWVortex that we showed you back in June, ABT Sportsline is the first mainstream tuning firm to take on the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, or as the company likes to call it, the Speedle.

The noted VW Group tuner said it is still working on the performance upgrades for the latest Beetle, which won’t arrive in customer hands until September, but it can give us an idea of what to expect based on its current offerings.

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New 2012 VW Beetle Makes Music Video Debut in Britney Spears’ “I Wanna Go”

Ever since Hershey’s chocolates appeared in William A. Wellman’s 1927 Wings movie - the first and only silent film ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, the practice of product placement has become an every day part of our television and cinematic experience.

Volkswagen is one of the many automakers that has adopted this strategy spending millions of dollars each year to place its products not only in movies but in music videos as well. One of our eagle-eyed readers, Dallas Howell, noticed the product placement of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle in Britney Spears’ brand-new, paparazzi-bashing "I Wanna Go" music video.

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