2012 Volkswagen up! 5 doors 1.0L BlueMotion 5MT FWD (75 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Volkswagen introduced the up! lineup as a solution for crowded cities and tiny parking spaces, and made the vehicle available in either a three- or a five-door bodywork.

Designed as a practical city vehicle, the up! made its way into a segment dominated by French and Italian automakers. While it didn’t excel in terms of design, it was a statement of the form-follow-function design. In addition, thanks to its fuel-efficient engines, it was a budget-friendly vehicle.

Even though the up! Replaced the Lupo lineup, the automaker decided to make it in a five-door version to make it more practical for those who had to do regular school runs. From the design point of view, the car didn’t resemble any other Volkswagen on the market. It was just a box with a hood at the front and a pair of lights, a short cabin with darkened B-pillars, and a vertical drop at the back for the tailgate.

Inside, the car provided enough room for four adults. Thanks to this version, the up! Became very attractive for those who needed the rear seats on a daily basis. For the front occupants, Volkswagen installed power windows and an AC unit, while those seated in the back had to deal with the pop-out windows system installed on the rear doors. A removable navigation system was available as an option, and it could have been mounted on a special cradle on top of the center stack.

Under the hood, there was a three-cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. It was built to be affordable and with a very low cost of ownership. As a first in the industry, the up! Offered City Emergency Braking, which automatically stopped the car at speeds between 5 and 30 kph (3 and 19 mph).