Volkswagen Up! 2014 News

Sometimes the best cars don't win comparison tests. That was the case this week.

Micro cars may be on the nose in Australia but no one seems to have told the makers.

Want proof the Australian new-car market is getting tough? Several models have disappeared from showrooms because they can't handle the competition.

A vote by 75 motoring journalists from 22 countries has awarded the compact prestige car the World Car of the Year award for 2015.It finished on top of a 24-car field and eventually beat the two other finalists, the Ford Mustang and Volkswagen Passat.The other big prizes for 2015, Green Car of the Year and Performance Car of the Year, went to the plug-in hybrid BMW i8 and the Mercedes-AMG GT coupe.The winners were announced at the New York Motor Show today at an event hosted by Bridgestone Corporation and Autoneum at the culmination of a six-month voting process.The C-Class delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.The awards are in their 11th year and previous winners include the Audi A6, BMW 3 Series, Lexus LS460 and Volkswagen Golf, Polo and Up.To be eligible for the overall World Car award, candidate cars must have become available for sale on at least two continents between January 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015.The WCOTY wins by Mercedes-Benz follow its victories in the Green Car contest in 2007 with the E320 Bluetec and 2012 with the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and its Luxury Car success with the S Class in 2014.“We are extremely delighted of winning the honour of World Car of the Year,” says the chairman of Daimler, Dr Dieter Zetsche.The WCOTY victory follows a similar success for the C-Class in the CarsGuide Car of the Year award.The WCOTY judging panel says: “Taking its design and technological cues from the S-Class, the C-Class employs an all-new aluminium/steel hybrid platform and updated rear-drive powertrains that delivers levels of refinement, luxury, safety, ride and handling that challenge best-in-class.” WORLD CAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2015Overall winner: Mercedes-Benz C-ClassGreen Car: BMW i8Performance Car: Mercedes-AMG GTLuxury Car: Mercedes-Benz S CoupeDesign: Citroen CactusPREVIOUS WORLD COTY WINNERS:2014: Audi A32013: Volkswagen Golf2012: Volkswagen Up2011: Nissan Leaf2010: Volkswagen Polo2009: Volkswagen Golf2008: Mazda22007: Lexus LS4602006: BMW 3 Series2005: Audi A6

THE Audi A3 small car -- which owes much of its DNA to the Volkswagen Golf -- has won the 2014 World Car of the Year, as voted by 69 jurors from 22 countries. The luxury hatch toppled the widely-tipped favourite, the Mazda3 from Japan, in the awards announced at the New York motor show today.The Audi A3 was among five German cars that took out a cleansweep of the 2014 World Car of the Year categories, and it was Audi’s second win in 10 years, having won the inaugural award. Indeed, German cars have won seven of the past 10 World Car of the Year awards, Japanese brands have won the remaining three.Accepting the award on behalf of the company, Audi's North America president Scott Keogh said: “The Audi A3 has only been on sale three weeks and already it’s off to a flying start.”Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi, said: “This major award win is an achievement that the whole company can celebrate.”The Audi A3 was among 24 finalists that included the BMW i3 electric car, which won the Green Car of the Year and the Car Design of the Year. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the Luxury Car of the Year while the Porsche 911 GT3 was awarded top performance car honours.But the Mazda3 had emerged as an early favourite for the outright World Car of the Year award following rave reviews globally since it went on sale late last year. The previous generation Mazda3 has been Australia’s top selling car for two of the past three years, and was the vehicle that ended the Holden Commodore’s record 15-years as the market leader, in 2011.The Mazda3 is returned to the top of the sales charts so far this year -- after being overtaken by the Toyota Corolla in 2013 -- and is likely to take out top-seller status this year buoyed by the new model which went on sale in January.World car of the year winners2014 – Audi A32013 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk72012 -- Volkswagen Up2011 -- Nissan Leaf2010 -- Volkswagen Polo2009 -- Volkswagen Golf Mk62008 -- Mazda22007 -- Lexus LS4602006 -- BMW 3 Series2005 -- Audi A62014 World Car of The Year category winnersGreen car of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carCar Design of the Year -- BMW i3 electric carPerformance Car of the Year -- Porsche 911 GT3Luxury Car of the Year – Mercedes-Benz S-ClassThis reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling 

Australia's record-low new-car prices have claimed their first casualty -- and it's from an unlikely brand. Volkswagen is poised to stop selling the Up city car, at $13,990 the cheapest European on sale locally.The Up has been crushed by the weight of Japanese competition in the Light Car class which have limboed to new lows because the Yen being has been artificially devalued over the past 12 months. When the Volkswagen Up went on sale locally in September 2012 it matched the competition on price, but it has since been undercut by an $11,990 Suzuki Alto and $12,990 Mitsubishi Mirage, among others.In Australia, sales of the Up have failed to meet expectations despite the car winning numerous awards, including the World Car of the Year. Volkswagen has sold only 2000 Ups in the past 18 months. So far this year sales are down by a staggering 92 per cent: just 53 cars have been delivered in the first three months of 2014.Volkswagen Australia has told dealers that the Up will no longer be imported, and once the current stock sells out the model will disappear from Australian showrooms. Carsguide understands there are also no plans to re-introduce the model locally as a Skoda, Volkswagen's sister brand.Volkswagen Australia boss John White would not confirm the local extinction of the Up, however he has foreshadowed a clean-out of the Volkswagen model range. "Sales aren't where we want them to be on the Up," said Mr White. "It's a choice we have to make."He said Volkswagen Australia was reviewing the range of cars it sells locally. "Part of the strategy we are adopting is that we want to streamline and de-proliferate our line-up," he said. Mr White said the Up was brought into Australia "for an entry-level statement" and a sales driver.But the main stumbling block for the Up has been the lack of an automatic transmission, which accounts for 80 per cent of sales in the class. "I don't think we can do enough volume that is profitable for dealers and for us in the long term," said Mr White.Since launch, the Up has rarely been without a "drive-away" promotional offer. Currently, Volkswagen is advertising a low-interest finance rate on the car, with repayments of just $8 a day as well as $500 cash back. "That low end of the market is very aggressive," said Mr White.Meanwhile, Volkswagen has also told dealers it will not take the facelifted Scirocco R performance hatch, bringing a premature end to that model. Its void will be filled by the just-released Golf R. The stylish Eos convertible also has no immediate successor once it fades from view in the coming months. Instead, Volkswagen buyers looking for a convertible will only have the Golf cabriolet to select if they're after a sun-lover.While Volkswagen's Up may be struggling in the Light Car class, the Golf is set to make another splash in May and June, with dealers expecting big shipments of the base model Golf to coincide with the re-introduction of $22,990 drive-away pricing.When the new generation Golf was launched in April 2013, it started with a $24,990 drive-away price. That was trimmed to $23,990 drive-away in September 2013 and then cut even further to $22,990 drive-away in November 2013, when sales took off."When we hit the sweet spot with that car at $22,990, sales spiked and it put us more in the mainstream with the Mazda3 and the (Toyota) Corolla," said Mr White. "We will make sure we have a competitive entry point to advertise (the Golf) in the coming months." 

And Volkswagen is likely to oblige but it's likely to be a GT rather than GTI (then again perhaps not?) It's more than a year now since the Up! made its debut at the Frankfurt motor show. At the time VW's engineering boss Dr Ulrich Hackenberg promised no less than six spinoff models, including the GT Up! the Up! for fast roads as he described it. Since then stories have continued to emerge about a more powerful version and Volkswagen has done little to nip them in the bud. In fact, some magazines in the UK are claiming to have already driven a pre-production version of the car. The bog standard Up! gets a 55kW 1.0-litre three cylinder engine. But the car has obviously been engineered to take more power than this rather conservative figure. The pre-production model, Dr Hackenberg's personal mule, puts out more than 80kW to get things moving. This combined with the car's lightish 880kg kerb weight will produce a much livelier drive. “Such an engine would offer drivers of the barely 900 kg GT Up! more affordable driving fun than hardly any other vehicle,” Hackenberg said when introducing the car. “This would be very much in the style of the ancestor of the sporty small car the first generation GTI. “When an ‘I’ is added for injection, its identifier refers to the Volkswagen icon. And the GT up! is performing on the same playing field.” The concept shown at Frankfurt is painted in a sporty pearlescent white. Designers have completely redesigned the front bumper. It looks completely different, with a large, central cooling air intake with a grille in honeycomb look similar to the one used on the Golf GTI. Outside there are two cooling air intakes for the brakes; integrated in these openings are the wing-shaped LED daytime running lights. Prominent on its sides are the painted side sills, black door mirrors and 17-inch alloy wheels with 195 tyres. A roof edge spoiler generates plenty of down force at the rear axle and powerful exhaust note is generated by a double flow exhaust system with two visible chrome tailpipes one on the left and one on the right. Inside, the GT Up! features an anthracite black interior. Offering a contrast to the anthracite are the centre seat panels with their blue checked pattern and the “paint blue” rings around the air vent nozzles. Painted in a sophisticated glossy black are the dashboard and upper door trim panels. The black roofliner is coordinated with them. Of the spinoff versions only the Up! itself and electric E Up! have been officially confirmed so far for production, a spokesperson for Volkswagen Australia said. But the spokesperson said the comments by Dr Hackenberg suggest the Up! GT is a strong possibility for production.  

...and used its latest plug-in project — the e-up — to demonstrate their viability. The four-seater electric concept has a 60kW/200Nm electric motor that is recharged via a socket concealed behind the

A production version of the Up! concept cars has just been confirmed for 2011 and all the signs point to a car which will be the right size and price to slide in below the Polo down under. Volkswagen has given few specifics on how the Up! will go from motor show tease to showroom reality, but it has chosen Slovakia as the production site for what is being called the 'New Small Family'. This could mean one car or many to satisfy the needs of the Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda brands. But there will definitely be both three and five-door hatchbacks - at least at first. Volkswagen Group began its search for a price fighter in 2007 when it unveiled the original Up! concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, complete with a rear-mounted engine. It stretched the idea into a baby people mover a few weeks later at the Tokyo Motor Show. It has now chosen the factory at Bratislava in Slovakia to build the production car, partly because the site already feeds four brands at the same time. "Our team at Volkswagen in Slovakia is ideally prepared to provide the flexibility required for the production of the New Small Family," says the chairman of Volkswagen Group, Dr Martin Winterkorn. Volkswagen is expected to get the Up! first - if it carries that name, followed by Seat and Skoda. The plans for Australia are just as murky, although Volkswagen says it is keen to get the car. "The Up! is still a concept and they have not confirmed the production car," says Volkswagen Group spokesman, Karl Gehling. But he admits the 'New Small Family' is being watched closely. "It's something we'll certainly be looking at. It will have to be price competitive but it looks a very promising product to expand our range."

The German brand, one of the few mainstream players in Australia to increase sales this year despite the economic crisis, has revealed it wants to add a micro car to its local line up. In contention is the two-seat city car, dubbed the Chico, which is being developed by VW in Europe to take on Toyota's new iQ and the Smart Fortwo. Jutta Dierks, the head of VW Group Australia, has given strong support to the addition of the tiny compact to VW's line up here. It would slot in under the existing Polo, the smallest car currently sold by VW in this country. "Would we want it? Of course we would. It would be a perfect model for us to attract a whole new group of buyers to the VW brand," she says. But there are a couple of major stumbling blocks. It is still not known if the micro car, tipped for sale in Europe in 2010, will be available in right-hand drive. "We would only be interested if it were available with an automatic transmission - that's a must,” Dierks says. "But it would be a fabulous car for us. It's firmly on our wish list. We have never, in recent times anyway, had a car smaller than the Polo and it would attract new, younger, customers; those on a budget looking for a new car instead of a second hand one.” Dierks says the car, a development of VW's Up concept car, won't however be the cheapest small car on the market if it came here. "It wouldn't be a $12,000 budget car; it has to deliver the safety and quality standards we demand in all our models. If we could sell it for $13,990 I would be more than happy." It's been tipped the Chico will be powered by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine or three-cylinder diesel, with a potential fuel consumption of well under 4l/100km and return class-leading clean exhaust emissions for a non-hybrid model. Meanwhile, VW Australia has still to make a decision on whether to add the potent Scirocco coupe to its line-up. The coupe was last month named Top Gear's car of the year in the UK. And buyers wanting to buy the new and slightly larger Jetta will have to wait at least another year. The popular Jetta, tipped to be repowered by a smaller 1.4-litre twin charge petrol engine alongside the existing turbo diesel, was expected to arrive next year but it has now been put off until at least 2010. Next year's major launch for VW Australia has been reserved for the new Golf, VW's biggest seller in this country. The new Passat CC will also arrive next summer.