Volkswagen Announces Pricing for 2012 Beetle

The 2012 Beetle is a big deal for Volkswagen - it is nothing less than the remaking of an iconic automobile. Recently, VW announced that 21.5 million units of the original Beetle were sold, making it the most popular vehicle off a single platform ever.

VW says the car inspired many names around the world Beetle, Bug (we added that one in) Käfer, Vocho, Coccinelle, Fusca, Maggiolino or ???! We had no idea what the last one meant.....

The car was styled around the original instead of the 1998 New Beetle. VW Group Design Chief Walter de Silva and VW Brand Design Chief Klaus Bischoff worked to create a "new original". It will be up to consumers to see if that goal was achieved.

VW is billing the 2012 as the third generation of the Beetle line, and it has unveiled pricing information for the new car. The base model starts out at $18,995, powered by a 170 horsepower 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual. A Tiptronic six-speed automatic will set you back $20,895.

At launch there will be two engines, two transmissions and three trim levels that can be ordered with any engine/transmission pairing of your liking. The second engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 200 horsepower and 207 pound feet of torque.

Pricing for the manual version of this car begins at $23,395. The four trim levels include Base, Sunroof and Sound and Navi. A fully loaded 2.0T with six-speed DSG gearbox tips the scales at $29,095. There will be a good amount of configurations available so you can order your Beetle exactly the way you want it.