New 2012 Beetle unveiled

The third generation of the little bug gets a new face, blending Volkwagen's ubiquitous corporate front with the unmistakable grinning eyes of the Beetle on top. Rear three-quarters takes us back to the first-gen model, making it more car-like than its predecessor. And sportier too, apparently.

Volkswagen says the exterior was designed by Marc Lichte, who also did the Scirocco, while underneath sits a Golf: new new Beetle pinches the Golf's platform and engines, right up to a 2.0-litre turbo with 200bhp, top speed 140mph. This frenetic top end in a car never initially designed to do such speed necessitates a self-raising rear spoiler, dontcha' know.

Once you've swallowed the looks, however, it's all top-notch Volkswagen inside. The dash combines every-VW-you've-seen together with an upwards-opening glove-box (remember that?) and a Panasonic/Fender hi-fi system. You can even option a triumvirate of gauges previously unheard of for a Beetle: oil temp, boost and stopwatch. Fancy that.

It'll hit UK shores in January 2012 with two engines; a 105bhp and 160bhp TSI (emitting 139g/km of CO2) petrol, while the 200bhp diesel will land later on next year.

Below is a teaser for you.

To read about the history of Beetle click here.