Frankfurt 2007: Volkswagen reveals rear-engined concept, the up!

[BlueMartian]

Volkswagen returns to its rear-engined roots with the up! concept, unveiled Monday before the Frankfurt Auto Show. VW CEO Martin Winterkorn gave a strong indication the four-seat car could see production one day as a part of the company's New Small Family lineup.

Winterkorn also hinted at the car being sold internationally under VW, Seat and Skoda brands to spread around costs.

The up! is about 136 inches long and 64 inches wide with seating for four, rear-wheel drive and modest luggage space under the hood. A VW logo faintly shows through the rear plastic hatch, but glows when the brake lights come on.

With the up!, VW is breaking its recent trend of chasing the high-end of the market at the same time it brings back a Volkswagen power train setup not seen since the original Beetle. Formula for success? It worked once before.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/09/10/f...gined-concept/

[GINA]

So is it called "The Up!"? Are we supposed to say "I bought a new The Up today", or is it just called "up!"?

[warren]

could make for an interesting ad campaign..."Make The Up Yours."

hehe. i'm killin' myself here.

[PostO]

Originally Posted by warren

could make for an interesting ad campaign..."Make The Up Yours."

hehe. i'm killin' myself here.

Haha. 7-Up beat you to it.

[Audiophil]

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by GINA

So is it called "The Up!"? Are we supposed to say "I bought a new The Up today", or is it just called "up!"?

i really like it. but i like weird, small cars that other people make fun of.

that being said, how dare they tease me with this concept! i want one NOW!

dammit, just when i've decided to stay with curby for many more years i see this gem...

seriously. i love it.

[wawalker]

No thanks VW.

[Beetlemania]

Very cool! It's definitely unusual, and me likey. Can't wait to see the Beetle-esque version!

[Toad]

Howcome soo many vw concepts have cool rims styles with those square holes, but they never see hte light of day.

I wantey those rims, theyre hott.

[Beetlemania]

Originally Posted by Toad

Howcome soo many vw concepts have cool rims styles with those square holes, but they never see hte light of day.

I wantey those rims, theyre hott.

I was kind of thinking the same thing!

[bugsy98nb]

I like it , I would get my plate with a single 7 .

OO wonder if it will come in Green

[lucian]

It is very difficult to outclass the NB shape, so I guess VW came up with a cheaper solution. I hope NB will survive the slaughter. In that case it may come to us fully loaded but not cheap. But it doesn't have to be cheap does it?

[dnyed]

Not my cup o' tea.

[SMG]

I'm surprised nobody gets the concept car's name.

Sc IROC co
L UP o

[Toad]

So then, how long do we have to wait for the ET or EETL concept?

[SMG]

Now that they've announced the new platform I'd be very surprised to see them not put a Beetle bodystyle on it. They would sell a ton more beetles than they will of those.

[silverspeedbuggy]

My personalized plate would read:

WHAT

or

WAT

[ASurroca]

Originally Posted by GINA

So is it called "The Up!"? Are we supposed to say "I bought a new The Up today", or is it just called "up!"?

Sure, just as you would say "I just found a The Cheat"...

[ASurroca]

Originally Posted by Toad

So then, how long do we have to wait for the ET or EETL concept?

It would be pretty awesome if they left that for NAIAS, just like Concept 1.

Unless anything has changed dramatically, the last I read is still that a square hatchback version and a Beetle-skinned version are being targeted for the US market.

All I ask is that they finally drop the "New" and call it the Beetle!

[ASurroca]

Just noticed this one. Remember that Volkswagen recently announced that they were doing something with Apple for their navi/consoles?

Then I see the pictures of the interface on this concept, and they basically look like a giant iPhone with a very Apple-esque carousel thing going on...

Hmm....