European reports have confirmed Volkswagen’s new Up micro hatchback will be launched in Australia within 12 months and stickered at $14,000. News of a European rival in that segment won’t be well received by rival brands currently competing for sales in our red-hot compact car segment – and that’s sure to be good news for new car buyers.
Volkswagen Up launched in Frankfurt in three-door guise but other variants are in the pipeline. All will use Volkswagen’s NSF (New Small Family) underpinnings.
Engines are exclusively 1.0-litre, turbocharged, three-cylinder – local models will employ the most powerful 55kW version which will give the Volkswagen Up a slight power advantage over Suzuki’s naturally aspirated 1.0-litre, three-cylinder Alto (50kW) but not four cylinder versions of Nissan’s Micra (75kW).
Boasting cargo space up to 951-litres (seats folded) or 251-litres (seats in place), Volkswagen claims the Up has the best luggage capacity in the segment. The four-seater measures 3.54-metres in length, 1.64-metres in width and stands 1.48-metres high.
Inside is the typically efficient Volkswagen design with lots of body-colour trim (including the dashboard facia).
In Frankfurt Volkswagen confirmed European Up variants will be sold in three model grades – entry-level Take Up, mid-spec Move Up and range-topping High Up. Satellite navigation (Volkswagen’s ‘Maps + More’ system) is offered in European specification Volkswagen Up.
Also on the options list in Europe is ‘City Emergency Braking’ which uses laser sensors to detect imminent rear-enders and automatically applies the brakes – Volkswagen says this is another first in the compact car segment.
