The Hindu Business Line : VW Up! and coming

European auto major Volkswagen has had a successful stint in the blistering Chinese market. While the other European brands have marked their entry into the Indian market, VW had only a ‘importers’ presence here for years, until the company formally entered the country last year announcing manufacturing plans and launching the Passat.

Volkswagen’s delayed entry into the Indian market was possibly due to the absence of a relevant mass-market car, though it had a number of passenger vehicles in the premium and luxury segments that would have given it a niche player tag. VW’s most famous cars have all been small in size, like the Beetle, Golf, Polo and the Fox, but they are not ‘small’ cars as we define them in terms of price.

However, VW’s plans for making a splash in the entry-level, hatchback segment are fast approaching fruition and the company has said that it will have a production-ready small car by 2009. The platform and concept on which Volkswagen’s India-spec small car will be based is the Up!. The concept was on display at last month’s Auto Expo in Delhi. The Up! is said to be a clever city car that sets a whole new design and product direction for VW.

The Up! is a cute, very upfront expression of innovative design that provides both aesthetics and functionality. The German company views this concept car as a city specialist, a car for four passengers that can be driven to the workplace, the beach and the trip to the neighbouring city.

Combo of aesthetics and functionality

VW designers have said that working with the concept Up!, they have ensured that the design of the car will remain fresh for longer and so it will not become obsolete quickly. With the designers in VW working in close coordination with engineers, the Up! concept’s development involved maintaining a balance between pleasing design and practicality.

That was one of the reasons why VW has chosen to position the engine of the Up! at the rear. The fact that the engine operates in the rear has a fundamental impact on the car’s exterior design, space and functionality. That is why the Up! does not have a conventional bonnet/radiator grille. It exhibits links to the legendary Beetle, which is considered the most famous car in Europe.

Some of the dominant design characteristics of the Up! are the headlamps that take an inward diagonal line, the air vents arranged horizontally and between them the VW logo — one of the few accents that have been retained in chrome — and the smooth bumper with a circumferential black stripe as a detail of the front end that is typical of Volkswagen.

The tailgate of the Up! was produced using a transparent non-glass material. Behind this frameless hatch door, developers also integrated the taillights that are positioned up high for better visibility. Despite its overall compact proportions of 3.45 metres length and 1.63 metres width, the Up! has a relatively filled out, powerful appearance.

Its stance is emphasised by its very wide track width relative to the vehicle’s overall width.

The wheels line up flush with the sporty outboard wheel arches and side skirts. The radial design of the wheels and the surface features extending up to the edge of the rim, make the 18-inch alloy wheels appear significantly larger than they actually are.

Interiors

By positioning the engine at the rear, VW designers and engineers managed to come up with very new interior concepts for the Up!. In addition to the exterior dimensions to interior space leverage, the Up! concept has also been built with a lot of variability for the interiors.

Except for the driver’s seat, all other seats can be folded and removed. Since they have been designed as light shells, they can be quickly folded and stowed away in one of the cargo areas. Incidentally, in addition to the storage area at the rear, the usual engine bay area in the front also has more storage space.

To improve seating comfort in the Up!, VW engineers have come up with a simple, yet effective trick.

Similar to a self-inflating air mattress, air can be suctioned into the seat surfaces through a valve.

This means that the seats can be adjusted 1:1 to the body anatomies of the occupants who have just taken a seat in the Up!.

Controls

In terms of controls, the Up! concept has been fitted with a touch screen with a new proximity sensor for controlling the navigation, audio system, trip computer and climate control systems. This VW concept has two central displays.

In the cockpit, an 8-inch monitor shows the driver key information such as vehicle speed, fuel level and range, and even CO{-2} emissions. In the centre of the instruments, equally visible for the driver and front passenger, is a 7-inch touch screen monitor that displays and controls a whole range of functions.

The menu functions in the controller have been made intuitive and the developers separated the display and control levels to make it more user-friendly. Many of these features may not make it to the final version of the India-spec VW small car that will be based on the Up! platform.

But it is also likely that some of these technologies will become cheaper to incorporate and over the next two years and these features could actually make it to the car here. The small hatch is likely to be positioned in the B+ segment.

The cute looks, the big interior space and sensible overall package are all good reasons why the Up! will be worth waiting for. Now, the task will be cut out for VW to come up with a frugal engine and a competitive price for attracting the Indian premium hatch buyer.

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