New Beetle caught with its top down in public

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Volkswagen is expected to release the first official pictures of the new Beetle Cabrio within two months. Meantime, the vehicle has been spied testing in America and Europe, as our pictures show.

The Cabrio should go on sale here next June. It will come with the choice of two soft-tops - manual or electric.

VW New Zealand wants to avoid the Cabrio being labelled a premium product.

"We've sold 1200 new Beetles so far and we will price the Cabrio aggressively as part of the family, " said VW general manager Dean Sheed. Expect the Cabrio to cost somewhere between the base model's $37,995 and the 1.8-litre Turbo's $47,995.