Volkswagen UP

Volkswagen with four awards from What Car?

Volkswagen managed to get four awards from the prestigious What Car? contest. The famous 2012 Volkswagen Up! claimed Car of the Year as well as the best City Car award. Other two victories are for Small Family Car – Volkswagen Golf VI and the coveted Safety Award.

“The Volkswagen up! sets new standards for a car at £10,000. It’s a city car that can seat four adults, while offering new levels of refinement, quality and maturity at this price; none of its rivals feels quite so grown-up. Buyers will be looking for even more for their money than ever in 2012, so the up! is a worthy winner of the What Car? Car of the Year.”, said What Car? editor-in-chief Chas Hallett.

The Safety Award was in large part the result of the availability of Volkswagen’s innovative City Emergency Braking system on the Up!. Although safety features are no longer the preserve of larger, more expensive models, the judges were impressed by this particular example of ‘big car’ technology filtering down to a smaller model. The system uses sensors to scan the space ahead, then applies the brakes automatically if it detects that the car is about to hit an object in front. City Emergency Braking costs from just £225.

The Up! is available to order now, with prices starting at £7 995 (RRP OTR) and with the first models arriving in showrooms in March.

Source: Volskwagen

January 13, 2012

Skoda Citigo – 5 stars from Euro NCAP

The highest possible ratings in the class of city cars go for the new Citigo from ŠKODA. This automobile is with five Euro NCAP stars and was eagerly anticipated. And the effect is that the ŠKODA Citigo has received the highest number of points in its class, in tests by independent crash-test experts at Euro NCAP. Firstly Euro NCAP assessors affirmed that the overall safety packages, including its passenger, infant and pedestrian protection are exceptional. Without a doubt, ŠKODA counts on the affordable and yet uncompromising safety.

Furthermore praises for the Citigo go for the levels of passenger protection it offers. For example Euro NCAP’s assessment involves front and side collisions plus a pole test.

This car is all about safety: Next go the admirations for the infant safety. Here ŠKODA again has achieved excellent results. And to be more precise – the car received full marks in tests simulating the protection of a three-year-old child.

Moreover Euro NCAP testers praised the inclusion of head-thorax airbags as standard equipment across the Citigo range, and belt-fastening reminders on all seats.

Last but not least is to be mentioned that the ŠKODA Citigo is the first car in the city car segment (together with the Volkswagen up! and SEAT Mii) that has a low-speed, active emergency braking assistant (which was called City Safe Drive). This innovative technology helps during urban driving and operates automatically at speeds lower than 30km/h (18mph). Depending on speed and level of traffic, the system can mitigate the affects of a crash or prevent it altogether.

More details of the ŠKODA Citigo’s crash-test result are available on the Euro NCAP website at www.euroncap.com.

Source: Skoda

November 25, 2011

Volkswagen GT Up! Concept

Volkswagen has announced their plans to creat GT Up!. Until then, you’ll be able to see GT Up! Concept car. The GT Up! Concept promises to distil the driving pleasure of the seminal hot hatch, the GTI, into a powerful yet petite package.

It comes with sporty style – wide-mouthed honeycomb grille, broad bumper including ducts to provide cooling airflow to the front brakes, these ducts also containing the wing-shaped LED daytime running lights. The sporting theme continues along the flanks, which feature extended sills and black gloss-painted door mirrors. The wheels are arch-filling 17-inch alloys with wide 195-section tyres. At the rear, a deep roof spoiler helps reduce lift over the rear axle, while a black diffuser at the bottom is framed by an exhaust pipe on either side.

VW GT Up! will be powered by a small turbocharged petrol engine with around 100PS.

The interior boasts a black roof lining, anthracite-coloured seats offset by central panels with a blue chequered pattern that has more than a hint of GTI about it. The gloss-black dashboard and upper door trim panels are similarly offset by blue rings around the air vent nozzles, while the driver gets to grip a chunky leather-bound three-spoke wheel.

Volkswagen GT Up! Concept will be exhibited at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show.

Source: Volkswagen

November 1, 2011

2012 Volkswagen Up Price – £7 995

Volkswagen hits the UK market with the all new 2012 Up. The small city car is priced at just £7 995 and will be available in the spring of 2012.

2012 Volkswagen Up was introduced at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. This is a small four-seater will highly efficient engines. There will be three trim levels and two 1.0 litre three-cylinder petrol engines as well as a BlueMotion Technology version. A five-door version is expected to join the line-up in the second half of 2012.

The entry level Take Up! is priced at just £7 995 with 1.0 liter 60PS engine. The standard equipment includes include body-coloured bumpers, daytime running lights, front and side head/thorax airbags, the new RCD 215 CD radio with aux-in, rear ISOFIX points, and 14” steel wheels.

The second trim level – Move Up! is priced at £8 970. It adds remote central locking, air conditioning, electric front windows, easy-entry seats, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, variable-height load floor and 60:40 split/fold rear seats. Outside, the Move up! gains body-coloured door mirrors and handles. If you add just £360 more, the BlueMotion Technology adds a Stop/Start system that reduces urban fuel consumption by up to six per cent, battery regeneration and low rolling resistance tyres.

The top-of-range High Up! is priced at £10 390 and it comes with 1.0 liter 75PS engine. It also includes heated front seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, gear lever and handbrake grip, electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors, the Maps & More personal infotainment device and a choice of dashboard colour. From the outside, the High up! is distinguished by its front fog lights and 15” alloy wheels.

Options list:

Sensor pack (£350): parking sensors, cruise control, multifunction computer
Driver’s assistance pack (£400): City Emergency Braking, ESP, passenger airbag deactivation switch
Comfort pack (£350): remote central locking, electric front windows, height adjustable driver’s seat
Winter pack (£350): front fog lights, heated front seats, electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors
Chrome pack (£250): chrome door mirror caps and side strips
Sports pack (£450): 16-inch alloy wheels, sports suspension and tinted glass from the B-pillar backwards
Sound pack (£100): four additional speakers (two front, two rear)
Leather-look pack (£650): leather-look seats, leather-covered steering wheel, gear lever and handbrake, plus carpet mats

Volkswagen Up! pricing:

Trim level	Engine derivative	CO₂, g/km	Combined mpg	Price, £ RRP OTR
Take up!	1.0-litre 60 PS 5 spd manual	105	62.7	7,995

Move up!	1.0-litre 60 PS 5 spd manual	105	62.7	8,970
Move up!	1.0-litre BlueMotion Technology 60 PS 5 spd manual	97*	67.2*	9,330

High up!	1.0-litre 75 PS 5 spd manual	108	60.1	10,390

up! black	1.0-litre 75 PS 5 spd manual	108	60.1	11,180
up! white	1.0-litre 75 PS 5 spd manual	108	60.1	11,180

Source: Volkswagen

October 10, 2011

2012 Volkswagen Up! – First Photos

The first photos of the Volkswagen up! have been released, ahead of the new small car making its debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

The up! is an entirely new design, offering maximum space on a minimal footprint (3.54 x 1.64 m), making it ideal for driving in the world’s cities. It will be launched in Europe in December. There are three versions for different budgets and needs: take up! is the entry-level car, move up! the comfort-oriented model and high up! the top version. At the car’s market launch, there will also be two models based on the high up!: up! black and up! white.

Making its debut in the up! is a new generation of three-cylinder petrol engines, with outputs of 60 PS and 75 PS. Combined fuel consumption as a BlueMotion Technology version (including a Stop/Start system) is 4.2 l/100 km (60 PS), and CO2 emissions for this version are less than 100 g/km. There are also plans for an up! with electric drive.

An important new safety technology in the up! is the optional City Emergency Braking system. It is automatically active at speeds under 18mph, and uses a laser sensor to detect the risk of an impending collision. Depending on speed and situation, City Emergency Braking can reduce accident severity by initiating automatic brake interventions that can even avoid a crash. So far, the up! is the only vehicle in the segment to be offered with this function.

At 3.54 metres in length and 1.64 metres in width and 1.48 metres in height, the up! is one of the smallest four-seater cars. Its overall length consists of short body overhangs and a long wheelbase of 2.42 metres. Use of space in the car is exceptionally good, because of the wheelbase, which is one of the longest in the segment, combined with an engine that is mounted well forward. The 251-litre boot is also significantly larger than is typical in this class. When the rear seat is fully folded, cargo space is increased to 951 litres.

The interior is as colourful as it is capacious, with either decor paint or body colour (depending on the equipment line) used in the interior, including across the dashboard facia. The clean and well-organised layout of the interior of the up! also offers clever details, fun styling and a level of quality that will enhance the market segment.

For the first time in a Volkswagen, the maps + more system is now being offered, which is a mobile Personal Infotainment Device (PID). In the economically priced up!, this is an equally economical system that was developed to organise navigation, telephone, information and entertainment, and was designed in cooperation with Navigon, one of the world’s leading suppliers of navigation systems. The user simply snaps the PID into place above the centre console. Unlike many other similar systems of this type, maps + more melds with the car’s network of systems more effectively: navigation, telephone and infotainment can be controlled and viewed via the maps + more touchscreen, which can also be used to view vehicle information, such as the display of the parking sensors (where fitted). Apps specially developed for the up! also let users extend maps + more to meet their specific needs.

Source: Volkswagen

August 22, 2011

Volkswagen Up priced

Volkswagen has revealed its plans to showcase a production variant of its newly presented Up minicar at the next year’s Frankfurt Auto Show. (more…)

December 8, 2010

There are cars that endure for all times. They are icons of their type, masterpieces of craftsmanship and technology; they put ideas into motion, make progress tangible and sometimes quite simply make everyday life better, more practical and enjoyable. Many of these cars carry the VW logo. “Bug, Beetle, New Beetle”, “T1, Bulli, Samba bus, California”, “Golf, GTI”.

(more…)

September 10, 2007

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