MISC 2012 Volkswagen Up! News

Excited as always, the new E-Up! from Volkswagen is making its debut today at the Annual Press and Investors Conference in VW's home town of Wolfsburg, Germany. But wait, you're saying, we first saw the E-Up! at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, so what's this "debut" that VW is talking about? Well, this is the "first fully electric production vehicle," and ...

If you thought there was nothing wrong with the Volkswagen Up! that a little body cladding wouldn't fix, you're in luck. VW has officially pulled the wraps off the production version of the Cross Up!, and its wheel arches and rocker panels are full of the black plastic cladding you've been yearning for. In addition to the "particularly rugged design and ...

Even though we've finally gotten a look at the production version of the 261-mile per gallon Volkswagen XL1, this aero-shaped two-seater was never intended for high-volume sales. Fortunately, it sounds like the same isn't true for the car's diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain, which, according to a report from AutoCar, could make its way under the hood of ...

The last time we saw the Volkswagen Cross Up!, it was sitting out in the snow in prototype form, but the next time we'll see this slightly more rugged version of the diminutive Up! hatchback will be when it makes its production debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. Looking like a micro-crossover with its raised ground clearance and black cladding, ...

More detail is being sketched into the Volkswagen Group's plan to launch a low-cost brand for emerging markets. Late last year a German report quoted a VW rep saying that the brand has been interested in building a no-frills car, the kind that would challenge Dacia and Datsun, for a while. With both Proton and Suzuki effectively out of the partnership ...

The Volkswagen Cross Up! started life as a concept vehicle at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show, but based on these spy shots, the jacked-up microcar looks to be heading into production, poised to join VW's European lifted lineup alongside the CrossPolo, CrossGolf and CrossTouran. Like stockier versions of the Polo, Golf and Touran, this prototype suggests ...

If you won't change the car, perhaps you can change the fuel. This is part of the alt-energy strategy that Volkswagen is employing as it works on electric vehicles. To wit, its project with Solazyme to make renewable diesel and also the Eco Up! vehicle. VW is launching the compressed natural gas-powered Eco Up!, which the company calls "the world's most ...

It looks as if Mini didn't get to hold onto its Guinness World Record for the tightest parallel parking job for all that long. German stunt driver Ronny Wechselberger managed to slide a Volkswagen Up! into a space of just 12 feet and 0.88 inches. Given that the three-door Up! takes up a full 11 feet and 7.37 inches of space itself, the remaining room ...

The initial prognosis for the Volkswagen Up! in Japan is going the same direction as the name of the car: three weeks after launch, 3,000 orders have been placed in Nippon. That beats Ford's sales total for the entire year and is almost a month's worth of BMW imports. Posting those numbers, Japan's Nikkei newspaper says the Up! "may beat the Golf ...

A company has the right to change its mind, right? Volkswagen, which said as recently as late 2010 that it wouldn't consider a two-cylinder engine for its Up! city car, is now doing just that. The German automaker will add the option of a two-cylinder diesel engine to the Up as part of an effort to compete against the Fiat Panda TwinAir, UK's Autocar ...