Volkswagen has just released details of its new small car, the up!, ahead of its début at the Frankfurt motor show this September. At just 3.54 metres, it’s shorter than the Polo model and is being touted as the ultimate urban vehicle – with a minimal footprint.
A new generation of three-cylinder petrol engines, available with BlueMotion Technology and stop/start function, have been designed for the the up! These 1.0L units can be specified in 60 hp or 75 hp guise and use just 4.2 l/km and 4.3 l/km respectively. They have an equally impressive sub 100 g/km CO2 figure too. A 68 hp natural gas model will follow soon, which uses 3.2 kg/100 km and emits just 79 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre driven. Volkswagen says it has definite plans to release an electric drive version by 2013.
A great safety option for the up! will be the City Emergency Braking system. Automatically active at speeds up to 18 mph, the device uses a laser sensor to detect potential collisions and can apply the brakes automatically – avoiding crashes. This is something you’d usually find in a high-end luxury saloon car. Impressive.
There will be three models available in dealerships from December: the base model is the take up!, followed by the the comfort-oriented move up!, and finally the high up! There will be two models based on the high up! available at the car’s launch: up! black and up! white.
[Source: Volkswagen]