VW Offers First Photos of Up! Minicar to Debut at Frankfurt Show

VIENNA – Volkswagen releases photos and information about the production version of the first Up! car from its new minicar range, also known as New Small Family, to be unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show next month.

The car will go on sale in Europe in December.

VW Up! on sale in Europe in December.

VW initially will launch a 3-door model, to be followed by a 5-door version. SEAT- and Skoda-badged minicars will be added later, but the German auto maker does not provide the timing and model names for those vehicles.

The 3-door VW Up! is 139 ins. (354 cm) long, 65 ins. (164 cm) wide and 58 ins. (148 cm) high. Its wheelbase stretches 95 ins. (242 cm).

The car is powered by a new generation of 3-cyl. 1.0L gasoline engines that produce either 60 hp or 75 hp. Combined fuel consumption for the BlueMotion version, which includes stop/start, is 56 mpg (4.2 L/100 km) for the 60-hp model and 55 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) for the 75-hp version.

A 68-hp compressed-natural-gas engine with the same basic configuration will follow. VW also confirms an electric version of the Up! will be launched in 2013.

There will be three versions of the car for Europe: the entry-level Take Up!; The mid-range Move Up!, which offers more comfort features; and the top-of-the-line High Up! Official pricing has yet to be announced.

Up! Production begins this month at the Volkswagen Slovakia plant in Bratislava.

The plant started its recruitment drive earlier in August for about 1,500 permanent staffers and contract workers in order to ramp up output of the New Small Family cars.

The goal is to complete the hiring by the end of the year, giving the manufacturing arm a total 8,500 employees.

In addition to the new minicar, Volkswagen Slovakia builds the VW Touareg and Audi Q7 cross/utility vehicles, bodies for the Porsche Cayenne CUV, and transmissions at its main plant in Bratislava. The company operates a second factory that makes components.