- The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle will start at $19,765, including a $770 destination charge, when the car goes on sale in October.
- The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle 2.0L TSI model will start at $24,165, including shipping, and will top out at around $29,000 for a fully loaded model.
- Pricing has not yet been announced for the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle TDI Clean Diesel version, which debuts in calendar year 2012, but Volkswagen of America told Inside Line that it expects the diesel model to have a $5,000 price premium over the base model.
HERNDON, Va. — The 2012 Volkswagen Beetle will start at $19,765, including a $770 destination charge, when the car goes on sale in October. In comparison, the New Beetle Coupe Final Edition started at $20,240.
Volkswagen carefully priced the redesigned 2012 Beetle under the critical $20,000 mark and in the middle of the pack in terms of its competitors. In comparison, the base 2011 Mini Cooper starts at $20,100. The 2012 Fiat 500 starts at $16,000.
The base 2012 Beetle gets the 170-horsepower 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine linked to a five-speed manual transmission. Standard equipment includes a split-folding rear seat, a leather steering wheel, 17-inch alloy wheels and an eight-speaker audio system. Options include an additional glovebox patterned after the one in the original Beetle, Bluetooth, iPod connectivity, heated front seats, three-color interior ambient lighting and leatherette seating surfaces. Volkswagen of America said option prices are not yet available.
The sportier 2012 Volkswagen Beetle 2.0L TSI with the 200-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine and standard six-speed manual transmission starts at $24,165, including shipping. It adds Bluetooth, iPod connectivity, three-color ambient lighting, larger brakes with red calipers, the additional glovebox, sport seating surfaces, 18-inch alloy wheels, a rear spoiler, foglights, three additional gauges and alloy pedals. A fully loaded 2.0L TSI should top out at around $29,000, a Volkswagen of America spokesman told Inside Line.
In 2012, Volkswagen will introduce a Beetle TDI Clean Diesel model that is expected to be the fuel-economy leader, delivering about 40 mpg on the highway. Pricing has not yet been announced, but buyers should expect about a $5,000 premium over the base model.
Volkswagen has been on a value kick with its pricing recently, slashing the price of the 2012 Volkswagen Passat and holding the line with the redesigned Beetle.
Inside Line says: If $20,000 is your budgetary line in the sand, the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle slips under it by a hair.
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audirs4 says:
06:51 AM, 08/11/2011
The current 200/207 spec is more than enough juice for the beetle. ~260lb ft of torque through the front wheels is too much, imo. Most of the A4's and all of the TT's sold are Quattro.
VW wants to separate the Audi and Vdub line up. So you're probably not going to see a bettle with that much power.
Even in the Audi A3, the FWD cars spin like crazy with the 200/207 engine.
Too much torque on a FWD car is not what most people want.
k55 says:
09:56 AM, 07/05/2011
hard to understand why VW is holding back on the HP /FT Lbs on the 2.0 T. Audi uses the same engine and has a 211 hp/258 ft lbs and a 265 /258 version of the 4 cylinder 2.0 T for the TT and A4 . I know the VW GTI R will close some of the gap but how long does it take to filter down to a normal GTI and now the Beetle?
markedwards says:
10:11 AM, 06/10/2011
Cloth remains the most common upholstery in Europe. VW, BMW, MB, et al reserve the vinyl for us because most Americans are too dumb to distinguish between fake and real.
ttbuyer says:
12:49 PM, 06/09/2011
Tremendously boring.
coolb944 says:
12:29 PM, 06/08/2011
@nwng
I wouldn't knock the leatherette in VW's. Have you ever actually seen it or touched it? Unless you're a true connoisseur of leather and need something as soft as Connolly, Bridge of Weir, Nappa, etc., the materials choice used in VWs is imperceptible to the majority of the population as leatherette (I know...I've had two VWs and nobody ever thinks it's not leather). It's very very nicely finished, no different in quality than normal car leather, and much easier to clean and take care of. Besides, if you want to knock leatherette, knock BMW for being a luxury manufacturer that uses it rather than VW, which is more of a mass market car company.
The Beetle is priced exactly as I expected it to be for the niche vehicle that it is. The key is that it IS a niche vehicle, just like the 500 and the Cooper. One can try and compare it to a Scion tC, but I think Toyota's sales goals are far more aggressive than what VW's would be for the Beetle, and the tC is aiming more mainstream than the Beetle is. I personally think the materials quality, feature content, and overall design would get me in this over the tC any day, plus the extra grunt and sport you can get with the 2.0T and 6-speed. Just my 2 cents.
tonyspadaro says:
06:07 PM, 06/07/2011
Hey bankerdanny, did you ever consider the poor folks who live in Montana, or Idaho, or Arizona? Should they pay the real freight to get the cars to their areas?
Equalized freight was implemented to level the playing field for customers AND dealers. I get my cars from a rail yard less than 5 miles away, I still pay $770 or more a car, the same as the guy who is 800 miles from that same railyard.
morey000 says:
05:13 PM, 06/07/2011
V-dub needs some new engines.
cdyer says:
02:58 PM, 06/07/2011
$5k premium for a diesel. Zoinks! That's um, a lot. I could see that premium for maybe an Audi or Jaguar, but hard to swallow for a VW. What's the Jetta diesel cost over a gas version?
higcorners says:
10:35 AM, 06/07/2011
Seems like Porsche styling department got a say in styling of this one....
blueprint1 says:
09:24 AM, 06/07/2011
Don't complain about shipping&dealer prep. In Canada, most manufacturers charge around 1500$.