Volkswagen Beetle Price in India

It was the year 2005 and I had just come out of a Planet M store with a gleam in my eyes. In my hands, I had a brand new CD of Midtown Madness 2 and I was dying to play it on my Compaq Presario.  Quickly installed the game and and found a yellow car that seemed quite interesting. Yes, it was the second generation Volkswagen Beetle, which I drove around merrily on the streets of San Fransisco, albeit virtually. Times have changed since then and while I don’t possess that CD of Midtown Madness any more, what I do have is a shiny white

Volkswagen Beetle standing in my parking. This is the third generation of the cute hatchback and this time I’m driving it on the streets of Mumbai. Let’s see whether the car really lives up to its hype or not.

STYLING AND DESIGN

The original Beetle had lived more than any other car has and when it was time to say goodbye, it was replaced by a new, modern version. The new version, though was contemporary in many aspects, it lacked the charm and simplicity of the original. It appealed to women instantly and initially sold decent volumes. However, it got a particular gender focused and hence male buyers were not too keen on this car. This time though Volkswagen aims to change that perception by making the Beetle more muscular and mean looking, thereby adding a masculine undertone to the car, to make it appeal universally.

The styling of the all-new Beetle leans towards the sporty side and is a luxurious car too, unlike the original Beetle. In fact, at a glance one might mistake it for a Porsche, from the front. The car is now chunkier while keeping the basic design elements similar like the rounded front with oval headlamps, bulging fenders, sloping roof and the flattish rear. The taillamp is now elongated and the boot has a large  and prominent spoiler, making it look sportier. The car also seems to be flatter from the top. The sharper lines and sporty looks are sure to make it much more appealing to a wider audience.

CABIN

There are some very obvious retro touches, particularly the upright dashboard finished in the same colour as the exterior. It houses a tiny novelty old-fashioned glovebox, but the real one sits below it. You’ll also like the round, hooded instrument cluster and the rather unique looking door grab handles. Trouble is, that’s about where the ‘retro’ stops, and the rest of the cabin borrows quite obviously from the VW family parts bin, unlike its rival the Mini Cooper, which has a largely bespoke cabin. One borrowed part we’re not complaining about is the new touchscreen, which is VW’s latest unit. It’s crisp, smooth and uses a high-resolution screen, and though it doesn’t have its own sat-nav, it does come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which should let you mirror your phone’s maps app.

The new shape has allowed this Beetle to be quite practical. Apart from a very large boot, you get loads of room in the front and a sufficient amount in the two rear bucket seats as well; only headroom is a bit tight. Visibility all round is very good too, and it needs to be, because the Beetle is deceptively wide. The car comes with a healthy amount of equipment. Missing in action are electric seats and a rear-view camera, but you do get front and rear parking sensors, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, push-button start and engine stop-start, among other things, on this sole variant.

PERFORMANCE

Internationally, the New Volkswagen Beetle comes with four engine options. Of these the one that will make it to India is the 150PS 4-cylinder 1.4-litre TSI engine. This unit comes mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission. Twist the key and the car comes to life with a sweet sound. It isn’t the quickest off the line, but felt fairly comfortable cruising at 140kmph on the autobahn. However, post that it does tend to take longer to gain speeds and needs a long straight to reach its top speed. We have always loved the way the 7-speed DSG from VW performs and in this new Beetle it is no different. Shifts are butter smooth even when you take matters in your hands with the paddle shifters.

RIDE AND HANDLING

Ride quality is simply brilliant and we were in for a pleasant surprise after driving the Beetle. Our highway blasts revealed that the Beetle felt well-planted and it impressed us with the silent, flat and absorbent ride. Its only when speeds fell that the car began to show a slight stiffness over bigger undulations but it always feels comfortable. What brings an even bigger smile to your face is when you learn that the Beetle’s ground clearance makes a no-brainer out of almost every kind of speed breaker. While the steering is mostly accurate and feels well weighted, we would have appreciated better feedback as it tends to feel numb around the dead centre. This also means that it’s not very confidence inspiring for spirited driving around tight bends.

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SAFETY

The 2016 Volkswagen Beetle comes with the usual safety tech that you would expect in a car below the price segment that the Beetle is positioned in. It gets 6 airbags, ABS, Hill Hold and ESP. That’s it. However, the build quality on the whole is also good and the hatchback even bagged a 5-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests. Talking about after-sales, Volkswagen has a pretty bad reputation in this regard and people generally don’t have a good perception about the German automaker’s service standards.

BOTTOMLINE

As a car the new Beetle works really well and except for the so-so cabin it is hard to fault this VW bug. But when you consider its ridiculous Rs 28.7 lakh price-tag, this is just not enough and it has to feel special too. As far as looks go, it certainly looks fantastic and its iconic bug shape definitely turned heads wherever we went. But what really disappointed us is the cabin, which in our eyes looks too generic, especially when you get the Mini Cooper in the picture. It doesn’t feel half as much fun to drive too. So for the money, you get a piece of history which feels thoroughly modern but nothing more.

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Volkswagen Beetle Ex Showroom Price in Pune ranges from 26,61,798/- (Beetle 1.4 TSI) o  26,61,798/- (Beetle 1.4 TSI) .Volkswagen Beetle has 1 Variants of Petrol are available in India. Volkswagen Beetle comes in 1 colours, namely Night Blue.