Volkswagen Group bosses want to scrap the little Up! city car because it's not bringing them any profits. That will mean the end of the Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii, since all are built at the same factory. Regardless of what's happening in Europe, the Up! is a very popular car in Brazil, which is an important emerging market right now.
There, people are encouraged by certain tax breaks to buy cars with 1-liter engines, which last year accounted for almost 45% of the market. We've learned from a reliable local source that a performance model will join the existing lineup in May 2015. Called the Up! Turbo, this will be based on a concept car Volkswagen showed back in 2011 and will be powered by a 3-cylinder engine.
These rendering created by X-Tomi Design show what it could look like. It's based on the GT Up! concept car shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and boasts more aggressively styled bumpers, larger wheels and additional side skirts. Around the back, X-Tomi even added two exhaust pipes, one for either side of the car, though this setup is technically impossible.
We've recently learned that the 3-cylinder turbo engine developed as part of the EA211 family will be rated at exactly 105 hp for this application. It's a decent number, slightly better than the Fiesta 1-liter EcoBoost and will make light work of the Up!'s 900 kilogram total weight.
As cool-looking as the Up! Turbo may be, it's not a car for the European market. The Brazilian model is designed to be cheaper and is built with less equipment, so imports are impossible. That's a shame, since it would be interesting to see this car go up against the upcoming Smart Fortwo Brabus. Still, not many people want a crammed car with rock-hard suspension.
Whatever happened to all those people who bought the Lupo GTI and loved it? Guess they got old...
These rendering created by X-Tomi Design show what it could look like. It's based on the GT Up! concept car shown at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show and boasts more aggressively styled bumpers, larger wheels and additional side skirts. Around the back, X-Tomi even added two exhaust pipes, one for either side of the car, though this setup is technically impossible.
We've recently learned that the 3-cylinder turbo engine developed as part of the EA211 family will be rated at exactly 105 hp for this application. It's a decent number, slightly better than the Fiesta 1-liter EcoBoost and will make light work of the Up!'s 900 kilogram total weight.
As cool-looking as the Up! Turbo may be, it's not a car for the European market. The Brazilian model is designed to be cheaper and is built with less equipment, so imports are impossible. That's a shame, since it would be interesting to see this car go up against the upcoming Smart Fortwo Brabus. Still, not many people want a crammed car with rock-hard suspension.
Whatever happened to all those people who bought the Lupo GTI and loved it? Guess they got old...