Click above for a high-res gallery of the Volkswagen up! Space concept.
It was rumored last week and now it's been confirmed: Volkswagen's up! minicar will be switched from a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout to a front-engine, front-wheel-drive arrangement when it goes on sale in 2011. According to VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, "Our engineers favored a rear engine and fought until the end for that solution." Unfortunately, the rear-engine layout had to be nixed due to cost constraints and the limitations it imposed on passenger space.
Volkswagen originally planned to launch the up! in Europe sometime in 2010, but the architecture switch has bumped back its sale date by four- to five-months, meaning it will likely hit showrooms in early 2011. While a few months wouldn't normally be a big deal, the Toyota IQ is set to debut in dealers early next year and the Fiat Topolino will launch late in 2009, putting VW behind the eight ball by almost two years.
Volkswagen plans to launch the up! in three flavors: a hatchback, minivan and sedan. The automaker expects sales in Europe and emerging markets to hit approximately 500,000 units per year, although a decision has yet to be reached on whether the up! will make it to the U.S.
[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
wagonphile @ Jul 21st 2008 8:16AM
And with FWD, it now becomes completely unremarkable.
Pyronick @ Jul 21st 2008 8:16AM
So it's not only FWD but it's an FF car?
That sucks, the whole RR/RF idea seemed very interesting.
mj @ Jul 21st 2008 8:38AM
dead-on, wagonphile, othing like being last to market with the same product.
hidden_hunter @ Jul 21st 2008 8:49AM
So it's just going to be basically a slightly smaller Polo...
like the lupo...
what's the actual point now?
Toy Yoda @ Jul 21st 2008 2:01PM
Is the Polo or Lupo available in the United States? Perhaps is the point is to make a Polo/Lupo-like car for the States.
Dude @ Jul 21st 2008 9:12AM
If only VW had a previous design that maximized the interior space in a small rear-engine RWD setup?
P.V. @ Jul 21st 2008 9:18AM
Is the up! competing against city cars like the Toyota iQ/smart fortwo/Mitsubishi i or subcompacts like the Toyota Yaris/Honda Fit/Chevrolet Aveo/etc.? If it is competing against other city cars, aren't many of the competitors offering rear-engined RWD cars?
Throwback @ Jul 21st 2008 9:27AM
Looks like cost outweighed innovation, again.
jrj @ Jul 21st 2008 9:39AM
Well they just neutered it.
All American Dude XX @ Jul 21st 2008 9:57AM
really...most of the people who will end up buying this car could care less if it's FF or RR. RR would have been neat though
Wobbly_ears @ Jul 21st 2008 10:02AM
...and once again, the MBAs with slick suits & even slicker hair have won, just like in all other engineering companies! They all seem to think that they have all the answers & us engineers are a silly distraction in their quest for world conquest.
I honestly thought German companies gave more respect to engineers. Looks like this malaise isn't restricted to American companies....
Rick @ Jul 21st 2008 10:13AM
Traditionally, they did. Both the Japanese and Europeans placed their engineers on a pedestal. But you miss one very important social and historic point. One of the United States most successful exports in the past 20 years has been the business school student. Sadly, we'll see more of that MBA-inspired cold corporate thinking creaping into things all around us and eating the country from the inside out.
Eric @ Jul 21st 2008 10:05AM
Boo. As wagonphile said, it is now completely unremarkable.
Declan Moran @ Jul 21st 2008 10:43AM
I want the minivan, its the most useful shape
I've said before that a front engined, front wheel driven car is more space efficient than its front engine, rear wheel driven cousin.
These things are supposed to be cheaper than the Rabbit (Golf), so I'm looking forward to this immensely, cheap, stylish transport (please god make it fun)
Das Boese @ Jul 21st 2008 12:30PM
You're right that an FR layout makes little sense in a small economy car, but this one was supposed to rear-engined, it was kinda the whole thing that set it apart in the first place. Now that they dropped that, it's just another econobox. As such, don't expect it to be fun to drive.
Declan Moran @ Jul 21st 2008 2:58PM
Excuse me for saying, but there are hardly any good small cars in America, so I'll take every single one I can get
The rear engine thing was pie in the sky concept rubbish anyway
I saw these in person, they looked great - easily the best of show. I bet that the engineering won't change the look or proportion per say, thats fine
zmf001 @ Jul 21st 2008 10:52AM
I am not even going to get upset about this change ...
Most products of this type are never release in the US anyway.
@All American Dude XX: I think you are quite right, and then some. Most people buying this car won't care. The 10% that do care, have the fact that FWD is superior ground into their head from years of automotive marketing.
alex @ Jul 21st 2008 11:13AM
EPIC FAIL.
This car is no longer interesting or a game changer, it's now just a Lupo. The reason it was compelling was because it was VW, thinking outside the box to create a vehicle that broke today's econobox mold. It was VW getting back to its heritage--and not by designing a *retro-looking* auto, but instead by engineering something special from the inside out. It was function meets form.
up! really could have been something. I think we'd all rather VW go back to the drawing board than give us a 5-month delayed boring vehicle like this one will turn out to be.
CalGuy @ Jul 21st 2008 11:15AM
I'm still intrigued. My smart with rwd, rear engine hardly exploits the platform. With a car this small and with relatively low power, a front wheel drive platform wouldn't hurt the viability in a dire way. The up! concept has a lot of appeal.
Great, small car design is still rare here.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jul 21st 2008 11:50AM
Completely predictable, and 5 months is long a long enough time to redesign a car like this. They either planned this a long time ago, or are just applying different sheet metal to another vehicle to make this one, or most likely knowing VW, both.