Official: Volkswagen Up!

Update: official photos and more details published by Volkswagen.

A novelty of the caliber of the next city car from the German brand was not going to take long to build impatience and break embargoes, prior expectations and its creator’s own schedule. Without much hesitation, the British magazine Autocar has put an end to the wait to see the Volkswagen Up!, which will surely keep generating plenty of talk despite having been doing so for years.

Compared with the prototype, the final Up! keeps its main lines and structure but adapts the rest to the street so that it looks believable. In this way, the front bumper now houses fog lights and slightly thicker tyres, the front and rear lights have been redesigned, the mirrors are larger and sit against a surface that covers the small divide that existed in the window, the door handles have a more traditional shape on Volkswagen, and the small rear spoiler has been dropped along the way.

Likewise, the overall dimensions, although they amount to 3.54 metres in length, 1.64 in width and 1.48 in height, give the impression of being more realistic to see on an ordinary car thanks to smaller wheels, which make the Up! look lower and shorter than in its concept phase. Nevertheless, its axles pushed to the extremes, almost completely eliminating the overhangs (its wheelbase measures 2.42 metres), still fulfil their role of providing great interior roominess, the goal of its designer Klaus Bischoff.

The latter may not show as much personality as the exterior, but the user will have the option to combine several materials and many colours to make it more pleasant. It has just what is necessary for an economy model in its category, among which a huge and very visible instrument panel and a centre console at a height that makes it easy to handle stand out. Its equipment will be classified into three trim levels: take Up!, move Up! and High Up!

The Up!’s boot will offer 251 litres, expandable to 951 if the rear seats are folded down, and it can be organised thanks to optional boxes. According to Volkswagen, it will have room for four adults. All this despite the final model moving to a transverse front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, which leaves less space than the rear-wheel-drive prototype.

As for the engines, the idea of no diesel at all remains, with only a turbocharged 1.0 petrol offering between 59 and 74 CV of power, with a five-speed manual gearbox as standard and an optional automatic. And, of course, a 100% electric version in 2013. Among the technology it will debut is the Maps+More system, a removable device that serves as navigator and multimedia player, and another safety feature already seen on other models that brakes the car when faced with obstacles if travelling at a maximum speed of 30 km/h.

According to Volkswagen sources with whom Autocar has spoken, the Up! will cost around 1,100 euros less than the three-door Polo, that is, about 9,000 euros.

Source | Volkswagen
Via | Autocar