After how many years of showing design studies, concepts, and prototypes of the Up! small car at just about every motor show (it’s so diminutive, it fits in the container as an afterthought), Volkswagen is getting ready to sell the Up! in earnest. The midget-car will be will be unveiled Sept. 12 at the Frankfurt auto show, for a European launch by December of this year, Volkswagen says in an emailed statement.
First, the name. Usually, a concept car gets a new name, once it’s launched. The Up! has received so much name recognition that it would be a shame to throw all that away. So Volkswagen renamed the Up! to up!. That’s right, lowercase u, lowercase p, exclamation mark. Trademark that.
If you want to know more, and see tons of pictures, mixed with irrelevant histrionics, up! with you and jump …
Second, the car: According to Volkswagen, the carlet is “a small car with charisma, a small car with maximum space on a minimal footprint, a small car with the most fuel-efficient engines or an electric drive, a small car with intuitive infotainment and operating systems, a small car with the safety of a large car.” Reminds me of the days when we introduced the Polo in 1975 under the rather uninspired concept “Außen klein. Innen groß.” (Small on the outside, large on the inside. Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.) Speaking of the Ur-Polo: The new up! is 4 centimeters longer than the Polo of lore. The up! measures 3.54 meters, whereas the old Polo was 3.5 meters long (both around 11 feet 6 inches). There is no weight specified for the up! Let’s see how it fares against the old Polo, which weighed-in at 685 kg, that was 15kg less than its design target. More on Monday – if Volkswagen talks.
Third, the trims: The up! will come in three uppity trim levels. And hearing them, we brace ourselves for a new version of Hochdeutsch, the uplanguage: The entry-level up! will be the “take up!” The middling version is called “move up!” The top version is the “high up!” (There is room for a high-powered, not very gas-efficient version called “top up!” – I made that up!). For further market segmentation, there will be special versions of the high up!: the up! black and the up! white. That’s no joke. Speaking of language: The up! wreaks havoc with autocorrect.
Fourth, the engines: The up! comes with a new generation of equally small three-cylinder engines. They output a bit more than the old Polo that puttered along with 29.5 kW /40 hp under the hood. The up! has a choice of 44 kW / 60 hp and 55 kW / 75 hp. Advertised fuel consumption as a BlueMotion Technology version (including a Stop/Start system): 4.2 l/100 km (60hp) and 4.3 l/100 km (hp PS). That’s 56 mpg and 54.7 mpg respectively (non-EPA). Next to no fill up! Green up! your driveway: Both of these sub 1 liter engines emit less than 100 g/km CO2. A natural gas engine with 50 kW / 68 PS with the same basic configuration will follow. (Gas up? Probably not.) There are “definite plans” for an up! with an electric drive for the year 2013. (Charge up?)
Fifth: The gizmos: The car can be had with a PID. That’s a Portable Infotainment Device. According to Volkswagen, “the user simply snaps the PID into place above the centre console. Navigation, telephone and infotainment can now be controlled and viewed via the PID touchscreen.” If & when the car arrives stateside, Mr. LaHood will probably demand a Shut up! For distracted drivers, there is the optional City Emergency Braking. At speeds under 30 km/h, its laser sensor detects (careful now) “the risk of an imminent collision.” It “can reduce accident severity by initiating automatic brake interventions – and possibly even avoid a crash.” Copy, signed off by the Legal Dept.
Says the press release:
“Space utilization in the car is exceptionally good, because of its wheelbase – one of the longest in the segment – combined with an engine that is mounted well forward. Although the driver, front passenger and 2 rear passengers are travelling in a small car, it is by no means a cramped vehicle. On the contrary. Consider the boot: 251 litres are significantly more than is typical in the vehicle class of the up! When the rear seat is fully folded, cargo space even increases to 951 litres. These two values show that in its interior the up! will be a giant among small cars.”
History repeats again!
To my former colleagues in Wolfsburg: Descend into the archives. Find the original 1975 Polo catalog. Can’t miss it. It’s yellow. Says “Der Polo” on the outside. A lot of perfectly reusable copy from the hip 70s!
I think they should have named it the uP! (or is that one already taken?). Still, I’m sure VW has its own reasons for spelling it as they did.
Cute car.
If it is a failure on the market, then it may have to be renamed Upps! (german translation of “oops”).
After reading “up!” so often in that article, I’m exhausted. I think I’ll go take a nap. I’ll wake “up!” in about a half hour…
Nap however long you like, after all, that’s up! to you!
Wow that use of language is almost as smart as “smart” and “Think!”
Love the last picture, it looks like someone trying to found Germany’s answer to The Beatles.
The name parallels are rather up!setting…
Loved the irrelevant histrionics, Bertel. They may not fit with every article, but include them when you can.
Leave it up! to Bertel to make a story about a boring up!date to the polo something fun!
I’m getting caught up on the up!. Following your piece, I read Paul McVeigh’s piece about the up! in Automotive News Europe. It was a rehash of the information I read earlier from Bloomberg. However, he did create a sub-heading that you failed to include: “Marketing gimmick”. I still don’t know why I continue to subscribe to Automotive News…
Keep up the great work Bertel. I’m relying on you.
I no longer subscribe, but much of AN’s/ANE’s news content (including the piece you refer to) is available with just registration, no subscription required.
I have a subscription to both AN and ANE and I hardly even read it anymore … I have much more fun after moving up! to ttac!
Looks like a pleasant little car. Notwithstanding that silly rebodied Golf, this is truly the “new Beetle”. Will the advertising entice you to come in and make an up! yours?
Only as long as mine isn’t up! mine!!
Just about every colloquial expression in the English language that denotes failure ends with the word “up”.
I eagerly await the South Texas regional version of this car, the “cowboy up!”
Well, this being a family-type publication, there were some which i redacted from the copy.
I thought of tha too, for the model which comes with a money-back guarantee that it will get you laid, we present: the fuçk-up!
btw, what’s up! with the al jolson lipstick around the smile on the fascia? that’s so un-pc. unless up! is just trying to out-mazda mazda in the waacky fascia design dept…
I finally catch a glimpse of photograph that shows Bertel cheering UP!
Looks more like waking up! to me!
I actually find this to be a very cute little car and what struck me was no center vents in the dash, unless they are those grills behind the iPad device like thing.
Now if it will slot in somewhat below the Golf price wise, I think it’ll cater to those who still want a stylish vehicle at a cost they can afford and yet still it be a VW.
Although to bring it stateside, it may need a little beefing up for it to succeed here, unless it’s marketed strictly as a city car, which it is, obviously.
ANE reports the starting price to be EUR 9,600 — that compares to the Polo from 12,450 or the Golf from 16,975.
Living in Phoenix (and it being august)the paucity vents would make it a non-starter. But it is cute.
Now don’t get all heated-up! under the collar over the vent-thing … it may be that the car a Phaeton-style indirect circulation feature.
Is it known yet where this is going to be sold? Is this going to come to North America at all?
So far all of VW’s public statements indicate that we’ll get one or more versions of the Up!. Whether the initial two-door is among them is anyone’s guess, and no info at all on how small the engines might be when they come here.
An handy overview of the variations on the Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_up!
Thanks.
That’s going to be up! to the demands of the market.
I’ve noticed your Lightbox plugin is a little messed “up!” har har. It’s popping some out into a lightbox window and others just go to a full page. Not really an issue but figured I’d let you know; I’m using Firefox.
as per the up! it’s pretty cute, nice looking interior, but no W12?!? VW, I am disappoint.
Same size as the current Fiat 500, 6″ shorter than the current not so Mini. Considerably less powerful than either.
Relative to the up!, mini is a plump-up! in size, and 500 is a step-up! in looks.
Bertel, looking at the measurements I assume the up! fits in underneath the Fox. Any idea of prices?
Seemed like a step-up! from the Fox to me…
I missed the real issue. VW can only sell it in the US if they can fit the 2.5 liter Iron Duke in it.
That model will be called the up!grade…
If it didn’t have an electrical system, I’d consider buying one.
Amen to that. I have been waiting decades for what I consider a safe “DIY” shade tree VW
I like the way they look
I like the way they drive
I hate the expense of common parts
I hate the fact that eventually they will all be done in by electrical problems
One day that too will come to pass, keep the faith, and don’t give-up!!
I’m going to throw-up!
If it flips over it will be up!side down.
That depends on ones’s perspective, those outside the car might percieve it as being down-side up!!
one of the articles of the year and that’s in the face of strong competition from the Baruth
does it come with an option for DSG? not really UP! to shifting by myself…
That is the extra-cost up!shift option…
I can see the advertising campaing: “Up yours!”
No, the campaign is entitled “up! yours”…
i am also curious if this will come with DSG. many of its competitors have automatic options, so this should too.
the C1/107/Aygo trio is going to start looking very dated next to this.
Don’t worry, those triplets are due for an up!date…
Nein, danke. up! oder uP! oder Up! — alles seid schlimmer als.
Ich habe eine andere Name am liebstem: der VW Kotzen.
Kleine Kotzen – Mitteln Kotzen – Grosse Kotzen…. mit dem Farben gelb-grun-braun…
Die name Polo ist vorbei-Kotzen uber alles! (der Umlaut ist mit dem iPhone auch vorbei gewesen)
hmmm … I think I want to see an up!R.