1) Much expected Volkswagen small car concept is finally unveiled in the first day of 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. The small car is named UP!(the exclamation mark really is part of the car’s name) and is a clear and strong statement for future Volkswagen design according to Volkswagen.lets look into the relevance for the Indian automotive industry. This concept car UP! will be the used by Volkswagen to build its indian small car. Here is the official words Volkswagen CEO & chairman of the board Martin Winterkorn told, “We will manufacture Up! for emerging markets like India, Russia and China.” India is an important market for us, he added. Volkswagen India which recently launched its first locally-assembled Passat sedan is serious on the Indian market. It is already believed Volkswagen will roll out a premium C-segment sedan Jetta and a premium small car(possibly the Polo bluemotion). Volkswagen is building a plant in Pune which would have a capacity of 1,10,000 cars per annum. Volkswagen will build this UP! small car in this new plant. Though the plant will be ready by 2009, the up is expected to hit the indian showrooms in late 2010 or in early 2011.
2) Volkswagen up! is part of the company’s program which aims at reviving by going back to its roots and concentrating its efforts on producing volume selling models with wide customer appeal. The new up! symbolises a dramatic turnaround after Volkswagen’s recent flirtation with the luxury car segment. Unlike the modern Beetle which costs about $30,000, this small city car up! will be affordable. Volkswagen Up! will come in two distinct versions: a contemporary city car carrying all of today’s usual creature comforts for established markets and a more basic low-cost version for emerging markets. Volkswagen new small car up! will cost about 6,000 euros (Rs 3,30,000) for Indian customers while it would be sold for a10,000 euros (Rs 5,50,000) in Europe. In india the up! will be positioned in the segment which is currently dominated by Maruti Suzuki’s Alto and Hyundai’s Santro.
3) Volkswagen is back to the history, yes! the new up! features a rear engine. A new range of ultra-frugal direct-injection petrol powerplants which includes a new turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit and turbocharged 900cc two-cylinder will power the small car. Similar to the engine found in the Polo BlueMotion, a new 1.4-cylinder engine is under developement for the new up! . Since the Up! is likely to fall below 1000kg, Volkswagen hopes delivering up to 30 km per litre (kpl) with the new up!, the company hopes to extend to 33 kpl and beyond. The power output could vary from 70 bhp to 90 bhp.
4) Volkswagen up! is the first product of the Volkswagen’s ‘new small family’, or NSF concept. VW will reveal two further superminis based on the same rear-engined layout NSF concept in the upcoming tokyo and los angeles auto show. Small car up’s wheelbase is as long as the Polo (volkswagen premium small car). At 3450mm long and 1630mm wide, the Up! is 45mm less than the Maruti Suzuki’s alto. But Volkswagen engineers say they have managed to liberate 200 mm in length by placing the engine at the rear, and still provide as much or more space than other cars in its class. Infact Volkswagen’s up is of similar size to the new Fiat 500. The up! concept, features a rear tailgate section constructed entirely out of a transparent material, containing a glowing Volkswagen roundel. Volkswagen’s classic badgeplate in the rear will light up when the tail lamps are in operation.
5) VW says the up! is capable of carrying four adults, due to each of the four wheels being pushed as far into the corners as possible. Each of the individual, lightweight passenger seats features inflatable pockets to maximise comfort and can be folded and removed from the vehicle if necessary in order for larger loads to be carried. By positioning the engine and other components low down at the rear UP! makes an appreciable amount of cargo space under the stubby bonnet up front and over the engine at the rear. The Up! should be the most recyclable Volkswagen ever built, VW recently teaming up with recyclable materials expert SiCon with the aim of making future cars 95 percent reusable.
