As brilliant a car as the Passat is, Volkswagen is really about small cars; if you think about it, the name, which literally means “People's Car”, says it all.
VW built its reputation on the Beetle, the Golf and the Polo; now there is a new Wolfsburg kid on the block, in the shape of the production version of the Up!, which will make its world debut at the Frankfurt show and go on sale in Europe in December. According to VWSA, there are no plans to bring the Up! to South Africa at this stage but the company may reconsider at a later date.
At 3.54m long overall, the Up! really is small - but that doesn't mean basic.
Three trim levels will be available: the entry-level ‘Take Up!’, the comfort-orientated ‘Move Up!’ and the range-topping ‘High Up!’, with two special packages - the ‘Up! Black’ and ‘Up! White’, based on the ‘High Up!’ also being available at launch.
Customers will also be able to order box sets for shopping, long trips or for children on board, and they can tailor the infotainment system to their personal profile using apps.
The Up! also introduces a new generation of one-litre, three-cylinder petrol engines, tuned for either 44kW or 55kW, for which VW quotes 4.2 and 4.3 litres per 100km respectively and less than 100g/km of CO2. An even cleaner compressed natural gas model and an electric version will follow in 2013 but, surprisingly, VW makes no mention of a diesel.
The Up! is the first A-segment car with City Emergency Braking, using a laser sensor to detect the risk of a crash and (at less than 30km/h) automatically applying the brakes.
VW has made to the most of a very small package by keeping the overhangs as short as possible, with a 2.42-metre wheelbase inside its 3.54-metre overall length.
Head of design Klaus Bischoff: “If you want to maximise space, the ideal form for a small car would be a rectangular box. We got close to that in the Up!, but with the familiar horizontal elements in front, connecting the grille and headlights to form a band - and a smile!”
The fun factor, he says, continues inside, with bright colours and distinctive styling, including what he calls the dash pad, an instrument cluster extending across the fascia.
Then there are the box sets, each for a specific scenario: the “kid box”, for example, includes a bag for the thousand small items that are essential with small children, a soft toy cuddle and a lunch box for snacks. Other Up! boxes will be called the “city box” and the “travel box” - figure those out for yourself.
Each Up! will also come with a portable infotainment device that clips into place above the centre console, and controls the audio and phone systems via a touchscreen; apps can be downloaded for navigation and parking sensors - with a visual display on the touchscreen.