Frankfurt Motor Show: 2012 Volkswagen Up!

The Volkswagen Up! is finally production-ready, four years on after the debut of the original Up! Concept. The three-door, four-seater city car measures just 3.54 m long and 1.64 m wide, with a wheelbase at 2.42 m (Perodua Myvi measures 3.69 m and 1.67 m with a 2.44 m wheelbase). The Up!'s boot capacity ranges from 251 litres to 951 litres (Myvi has 208 litres to 595 litres).

Unsurprisingly, the rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout of the original Up! has been changed to a more cost-effective front-engined, front-wheel-drive setup. Available from the Up!'s early 2012 launch in Europe are two 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engines with either 60 hp or 75 hp. Environmental credentials are excellent, as when equipped with BlueMotion Technology including a stop/start system, fuel economy is around 24 km/litre and carbon emissions below 100 grams/km. A 68 hp natural gas engine, turbodiesel engines and an all-electric powertrain will follow.

The Up! is the first car in its class to feature a safety system like the optional City Emergency Braking System, an automatic braking function that uses a laser sensor to detect objects in front before acting to brake the car to a complete halt at speeds under 30 km/h if there is no input from the driver. Another notable equipment is the Personal Infotainment Device (PID), a touch-screen system that manages everything from the entertainment to navigation and parking systems.