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At the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, Volkswagen will reveal the most fuel-efficient version of the new Beetle in the States, the TDI, which is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine producing 140 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of peak torque. The same powerplant is offered on the North American Jetta and Passat TDI models. The diesel engine can be mated to either a six-speed manual gearbox or VW�s dual-clutch DSG six-speed automatic, with the German automaker predicting a fuel economy of 29 mpg city and 39 mpg highway. 
That's a significant improvement over the base 170HP 2.5-liter gasoline engine that returns an estimated 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway with a five-speed manual, and 22 mpg city and 29 mpg highway with the optional six-speed auto.
Some guys have all the luck. Like Jay Leno. Not only is he a famous and wealthy TV presenter, but he also gets to drive a bevy of new cars well before anyone else. After driving the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell, which won�t enter production for another two years, and the new SLS Roadster wasn�t enough, Leno was also invited to VW�s headquarters at Wolfsburg to try out the new Beetle.
Not that the 2012 Beetle needs it, but Volkswagen wants to keep its newcomer in the headlines until it launches into the market this fall starting with the U.S. in September, followed by Germany in October, the rest of Europe in November, the UK in January 2012, Asia in February 2012 and finally South America by the beginning of 2013. To do so, the German automaker came out today with a fresh batch of images as well some new info explaining some of the thinking behind the creation of the 2012 Beetle.
The 2012 VW Beetle tuning wars have began. Leaving aside the Beetle RS project with some very light styling modifications by the enthusiast website VWVortex that we showed you back in June, ABT Sportsline is the first mainstream tuning firm to take on the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Beetle, or as the company likes to call it, the Speedle. 
The noted VW Group tuner said it is still working on the performance upgrades for the latest Beetle, which won�t arrive in customer hands until September, but it can give us an idea of what to expect based on its current offerings.
