Meet The Beetle . . . Again

Volkswagen revealed its all-new second-generation watercooled Beetle today, which will be sold as a 2012 model when it is introduced this September. It was unveiled ahead of the opening of the annual New York International Auto Show, which, as it has since it relocated to the Jacob Javits Convention Center in 1987, opens Easter weekend.

The Beetle - it's no longer referred to as a "New" Beetle - is more aggressively styled to appeal to the male buyers that the previous watercooled Beetle model had a hard time attracting. (The previous car was dismissed as a "chick car.") The next Beetle is also styled to appeal to buyers in different countries and sell beyond the United States, where the previous car had its biggest sales.

The 2012 Beetle is in fact larger than the "New Beetle," with a length of 168.4 inches long (six inches longer) and a width of 71.2 inches (up by 3.3 inches). So it's going to cut a more aggressive profile with its size as well as its shape. Engine choices are taken from the Golf and Jetta models, with VW's venerable 2.5-liter inline five producing 170 horsepower as the standard powerplant, a 2-liter turbo generating 200 hp, and, later, a 140-hp TDI diesel four. The 2.5-liter engine's projected fuel economy of 22 mpg city/31 mpg highway is favorable in comparison to the 25 mpg city/33 mpg highway EPA rating of an aircooled 1974 Bug.

Having dispensed with the vital statistics, here's my personal take: I like it, but I don't know if I'll love it. I went into a VW dealer eleven years ago to look at the New Beetle and ended up buying the more practical Golf. Because, like many Volkswagen fans, I consider the Golf to be emblematic of today's Volkswagen, while the New Beetle was more geared toward nostalgia. Not that the New Beetle wasn't a good car; indeed, I looked very hard at it before buying a Golf. But its large ceiling and wide dashboard sill made me feel like I was in a cave. The Golf felt more snug. The 2012 Beetle is an attractive car, and I'm sure I'll like it more up close. I just don't know if I'd actually want to buy one.

And it remains to be seen whether the 2012 Beetle will prove to be a crisp handler with a taut ride, like a VW should be. Reactions to the softer ride and handling of the 2011 Jetta have been those of disappointment, as well as it having fewer features and a blander interior than the old Jetta. Also, the very idea of an Americanized Passat going against (and emulating) the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord has generated disgust. (To be fair, no one's been able to road test the Tennessee-built Passat, but on the basis of the new Jetta, no one is re-assured.) Many of us VW fans are afraid that Volkswagen is selling out and watering down its cars like so much of the Löwenbräu beer that was sold in America - and brewed in America - for about twenty-five years. With the 2012 Beetle, will we have a German car, or an American car with a German accent?

Also noteworthy is the seventh-generation Golf now in development in VW's hometown of Wolfsburg. Americans have been able to buy a Wolfsburg-made Golf since 2006 (until 2009, it was marketed under the old Rabbit name) and gotten the exact same car that's sold in Germany. But with VW trying to broaden its appeal to American consumers, many VW fans worry that the Mark 7 Golf will either be watered down and decontented or, because Americans don't like hatchbacks so much, not sold here at all (except for the GTI version). I still hold out hope that it will be available in the U.S. as a loss leader, with the Jetta and the Passat as the money-making models for the company.

And if the onus on profit is limited to those cars, maybe the 2012 Beetle will be a pleasant surprise.