First Details: Volkswagen Up! City Car

Volkswagen has revealed the first details of the production version of the ‘Up!’ concept, which had its premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007.

While the three-door hatchback model’s looks are very similar to the original Up! Concept car, under the sheetmetal it’s a different story as Volkswagen has ditched the concept’s unique rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout. Instead, the Volkswagen Up! is based on the German firm’s Modularer Querbaukasten, or MQB, platform using a more traditional front-engine, front-wheel drive setup.

The Up! measures 3.54 meters in length and 1.64 meters in height and offers space for four passengers. The Volkswagen Up! is powered by a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder engine, available in two versions, with outputs of 44 kW and 55 kW. VW is offering the Up! with BlueMotion Technology, including a Stop/Start system and says the engines are capable of returning fuel economy of 4.2 L/100 km and 4.3 L/100 km respectively. Volkswagen says that the new !Up emits less than 100 g/km of CO2. A pure-electric version into the mix at a later date.

The world debut of the Volkswagen Up! will take place at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, with the new model hitting showrooms across Europe from December.