The VW Up! Thread

Volkswagen could axe Up city car in Europe

VW boss says city car's future is in doubt due to challenges of selling small cars and meeting emissions targets in the European market

Volkswagen is considering the future of its Up city car in Europe, according to company boss Herbert Diess.

While he said the Up was very popular in certain markets, such as Brazil, where VW is localising its production, Diess acknowledged that it was more challenging in Europe.

“We still see a future for that segment but we have to weigh up how much profit contribution and positive CO2 effects we get from [the Up],” said Diess, speaking at the Frankfurt motor show.

“On small cars, it’s very hard to bring [their emissions] below 93g or 95g without adding a lot of cost.

“It becomes complicated. The electric Up makes much more sense.”

He also commented that, as emissions for bigger cars are reduced to less than 100g/km CO2, smaller cars, such as the Up, don't help with manufacturer's overall emission targets in the way they once did.

“We need [a CO2 lessening] contribution from these [smaller] cars or we have to question it - or up the price.”

Diess said no decision had been made on the future of the Up, but added: “Selling small cars is not easy. It’s a very European problem.”

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/...tor-show/volkswagen-could-axe-city-car-europe
 
VW pushing hard to drop the petrol engine altogether. It only makes sense for small vehicles to go all electric because there are so many of them on the road, which is pushing emissions up collectively.
 
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Jeez, I hope I am never stuck behind that thing. My car is low but I can at least take speedbumps at reasonable speed. If you get stuck behind one of those at a speedbump. Nee jinne!
 
Grounded Nation VW UP!.jpg

Another UP! from Durban. This one has air suspension.
 
3 Reasons Why Volkswagen Take Up! is #CarsAwards Finalist

What makes the Volkswagen Take Up! a strong contender in the Budget Car category of the 2017/18 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards programme – powered by WesBank? Read on...

Volkswagen’s Up! brings cutting-edge small-car design to the budget segment. Its unique design makes it seem like nothing more than a compromised city toy, but there’s surprising practicality on offer here, too. And at the price, there’s simply nothing to touch it for trendiness.

1. Cost effective city car

The Volkswagen Take Up! is powered by a small capacity 3-cylinder, 1.0-litre engine with 55 kW and 95 Nm of torque. The Up! returns excellent fuel consumption with a claimed figure of 4.6 L/100 km which means you will be saving money at the pumps.

2. Practical runner

The Up! is now only offered in 5-door guise which improves practicality substantially. The front doors open wide and it has a 251-litre boot with a double floor to store valuable items out of sight. The rear seats also fold flat in a 60:40 configuration which sees loading space increase to a 959-litres. With its compact dimensions, the Up! is perfectly suited for city driving and parking with good all-round visibility.

3. Brand strength

Volkswagen is one of South Africa’s most-loved brands and also boasts one of the biggest dealership networks, so backup is assured. The desirability of the brand’s products in the used-car market also means higher resale values. A 3-year/120 000 km warranty is standard and a 3-year/45 000km service plan is optionally available.

https://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/3-reasons-why-volkswagen-take-up-is-carsawards-finalist/44122/
 
5 Slowest-Accelerating Vehicles CAR Tested In 2017

At CAR magazine, we take every new vehicle we feature to our test strip to gather data for our in-depth road tests. Sometimes, we see some pretty underwhelming results. Below we have listed the worst 0-100 km/h times we’ve collected over the past 12 months. Yes, these are the slowest-accelerating cars from the pool of 99 vehicles we tested in 2017…

5. Nissan NP200 1,5 dCi ICE: 14,44 seconds (claimed n/a)

The Nissan NP200 has been around for a relative age, so we didn’t expect it to achieve record-breaking times. With its 1,5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, the NP200 ICE churns out an honest 63 kW and 200 N.m.

4. Renault Sandero Stepway 66 kW Turbo Dynamique: 14,68 seconds (claimed 11,1 seconds)

For a car that Renault boasts uses an engine with “F1 technology”, the Sandero Stepway disappoints in the sprinting stakes. Its 898 cc turbo-triple engine provides it with 66 kW, but takes almost 15 seconds to hit 100 km/h … and that makes it slower than its naturally aspirated forebear.

3. Volkswagen Cross Up! 1,0: 14,86 seconds (claimed 13,5 seconds)

The Cross Up! is a promising budget offering with a surprisingly dynamic chassis. But don’t expect to get big results out of that 55 kW 1,0-litre three-cylinder engine…

2. Fiat Panda 0,9 TwinAir Cross 4×4: 15,1 seconds (claimed 11,2 seconds)

The 875 cc two-cylinder configuration found under the Panda’s bonnet has its strong points, but it looks like speed isn’t one of them. With 63 kW on tap, the little crossover is able to hit 100 km/h in just over 15 seconds.

1. Mahindra TUV300 1,5 CRDE T8: 16,89 seconds (claimed – n/a)

The Indian manufacturer’s tank-inspired SUV truly is an honest offering … and that 1,5-litre turbodiesel three-cylinder sending 74 kW to the rear struggles to get it up to speed. Its blocky shape probably doesn’t help its cause either.

http://www.carmag.co.za/news_post/5-slowest-accelerating-vehicles-car-tested-in-2017/
 
Based on this thread I created I drove the Up! yesterday.

https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showth...-vs-Kia-Picanto-1-2-Smart-vs-Suzuki-Ignis-GLX

In isolation the Up! seemed like a pretty nice little car especially for the demo mileage money where they seem to get discounted pretty extensively.

However in the bigger scope of it's rivals it just seems a tad low on power and starting to trail behind in features with it's Smart Dock connector not living up to the built-in touch screen offerings on others.

Without putting the all the extras in the car it would be very lacking and I cannot imagine a base model would do very well at all.

The engine was the main problem in that it just seems to be a lot more work than others. Would have been interesting if we got the higher power models down here in SA.


It's certainly not a bad car and if you were die hard intent on one you wouldn't be losing out on much when seen in isolation. Just for the same money there are rivals that offer more/different.
 
From Wikipedia :

In February 2014 Volkswagen introduced a modified version of the Up for Latin America. The Brazilian-built Up differs from its European counterpart in length (it is 65*mm (3*in) longer), thanks to revisions to the floorpan's rear section to accommodate a larger fuel tank (50L instead of Europe's 35L), a full-sized spare wheel and increased cargo space. All versions have revised tailgates with a painted metal section (like the Seat Mii's and Škoda Citigo's) instead of the dark glass trim used in Europe. The 5-door Brazilian Up also uses a different rear door design with sectioned glass and wind-down windows. The South American model retains the European version's safety levels with a five-star crash rating[14]*and ample use of high-strength steel elements.[15]

Shouldn't VW SA bring in the Brazilian version at a better price point than the current European version ? The safety specs won't be the same but it would probably sell extremely well.

When will end of production be for the European Up ?
 
joshuatree said:
From Wikipedia :

In February 2014 Volkswagen introduced a modified version of the Up for Latin America. The Brazilian-built Up differs from its European counterpart in length (it is 65*mm (3*in) longer), thanks to revisions to the floorpan's rear section to accommodate a larger fuel tank (50L instead of Europe's 35L), a full-sized spare wheel and increased cargo space. All versions have revised tailgates with a painted metal section (like the Seat Mii's and Škoda Citigo's) instead of the dark glass trim used in Europe. The 5-door Brazilian Up also uses a different rear door design with sectioned glass and wind-down windows. The South American model retains the European version's safety levels with a five-star crash rating[14]*and ample use of high-strength steel elements.[15]

Shouldn't VW SA bring in the Brazilian version at a better price point than the current European version ? The safety specs won't be the same but it would probably sell extremely well.

When will end of production be for the European Up ?
Click to expand...

Perhaps the conversion to right hand drive will not be economically feasible.
 
Volkswagen gives its little Up the R-Line exterior treatment!

Volkswagen offers an R-Line exterior package for a number of its vehicles, including the Polo, Golf, Tiguan and Touareg. But now the Wolfsburg-based automaker has given its smallest offering, the Up, the R-Line treatment.

Specifying the optional new R-Line exterior package hands the small city car a sportier front bumper, a silver-coloured trim strip in its grille, chrome trim for its foglamps, chunkier (body coloured) side-sills, a black roof and black side-mirror caps.

In addition, the R-Line kit includes darkened rear side windows and rear screen, along with the obligatory “R-Line” logos on the side panels, plus black 16-inch “Triangle” alloy wheels wrapped in 185/50 R16 rubber. A set of 17-inch “Polygon” alloy wheels – shod in 195/40 R17 tyres – is also optionally available, either in flat black or glossy black.

The package is, of course, purely cosmetic and thus includes no performance upgrades. For that, VW offers the Up GTI, although unfortunately not here in South Africa (read about the German brand’s reasoning here).

We’ve asked Volkswagen South Africa whether the R-Line package will be offered locally on the Up, and will update this story once we hear back…

http://www.carmag.co.za/news/volkswagen-gives-its-little-up-the-r-line-exterior-treatment/


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Here’s why Volkswagen says city cars are facing extinction

A senior Volkswagen executive says city cars such as the Up are facing extinction thanks to Europe’s increasingly strict emissions regulations.

Speaking to Autocar, Jürgen Stackmann, the Wolfsburg-based firm’s head of sales and marketing, said it was becoming difficult to make a business case for city cars.

As the British publication points out, automakers in Europe must by 2020 drop to a CO2 emissions fleet average of 95 g/km or less.

The majority of conventionally powered city cars, including the Up, would find themselves well over this limit (particularly with the new WLTP testing method now in effect), which would force manufacturers to compensate with other vehicles (such as electric cars). And, of course, both small city cars and first-generation electric cars have small profit margins.

“If Europe is pursuing this legal target, there is no single business case for cars the size of the Up,” Stackmann told Autocar.

“They are too small for the new technology, and the engine can’t meet the CO2 targets. You’d need to sell an EV just to be able to sell a city car.

“So the life of small cars with conventional engines is very hard. It’s a problem. I don’t think the politicians have picked this problem up yet. What do you buy in the future when you cannot afford a new car?”

https://www.carmag.co.za/news/heres-why-volkswagen-says-city-cars-are-facing-extinction/

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