Hamburg - Volkswagen will launch the second generation of the New Beetle in 2009 with a flatter and wider bodywork than the current model, Germany's Auto Bild newspaper reports.

The start would be made with a convertible in November 2009 with the closed-top two-door version coming a year later, the paper said.

A VW spokesman described the report as 'speculation'.

'We have said in the past that the successor would come at the end of the decade but that does not mean it will be in 2009,' the spokesman said.

The spokesman confirmed that the New Beetle would remain part of the VW model line-up. 'The New Beetle is a successful car that cannot be copied,' he said.

According to the Auto Bild report the top of the range New Beetle II would be fitted with a 147 kW/200 hp engine. A Microbus version was in the project phase including many elements from the Golf Plus II and the next Touran. ?© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Source: [url=http://lifestyle.monstersandcritics.com/autos/news/article_1340455.php/VW%A0planning_successor_to_New_Beetle_for_2009_rep ort]Monsters and Critics.com[/url]