Volkswagen Up


The Volkswagen Up is a city car which was produced by the Volkswagen Group from 2011 to 2023. It is part of the New Small Family series of models, alongside the SEAT Mii and Škoda Citigo which are rebadged versions of the Up, with slightly different front and rear fascias. Production began in December 2011 at the Volkswagen Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, with Volkswagen do Brasil making the model in Taubaté from February 2014 until 2021. The SEAT and Škoda versions were also manufactured in the Bratislava factory, before being withdrawn from sale in 2021 and 2020 respectively. Production of the Up ended in October 2023. A battery electric version, called E-up, was launched in autumn 2013.

Overview

Pre-production

The production Up follows a series of concept cars, starting in 2007 at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The exterior was originally designed by the Brazilian designer Marco Pavone. This design was chosen and enhanced by Volkswagen Group Chief Designer Walter de'Silva, and Head Designer of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars marque, Klaus Zyciora. Shown at the Frankfurt launch were several further Up concepts, including a GT version, a natural gas-powered Eco-up! and a four-door Cross model.
Where the Up concept used a rear-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, the 2011 production model has a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout, using the NSF platform, with a 3-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine.
It was originally reported that the Up concept would be produced under the name Lupo, like the Volkswagen Lupo that was discontinued in 2005. Eventually this plan changed and the 2011 production model was named the Up.

Production version

At the International Motor Show Germany in 2011, Volkswagen unveiled the final version of the Up based on the Volkswagen New Small Family modular architecture. Production of the Up started with the model year of 2012, in December 2011 at the Volkswagen Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. The three-door bodywork is inspired by the 2007 concept Up, the engine range is 1.0-litre three-cylinder gasoline and. Both the three and five doors are available with engines running on CNG and called eco-Up. The Up is a front-wheel drive with transverse engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and is long has a wheelbase of. The cabin is configured to four seats.
The Up range included the Up GTI, which was previewed by the GT Up concept. Released in January 2018, the Up GTI feature a turbocharged version of the 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine producing. An electric hybrid Up — which would be badged Blue-e-motion — was planned for 2014 but never released.
Along with the other two rebadged models, Up is the first car in its class to offer an automated braking system, called City Emergency Braking. The system is automatically activated at speeds below, when a laser sensor identifies a danger of collision and activates the brakes. In the SEAT model, the system is marketed as the City Safety Assist and in the Škoda model it is called City Safe Drive.
The Up won the 2012 World Car of the Year.

Marketing

The Up! is available to order in the United Kingdom since October 2011 for five models – marketed as Take Up, Move Up, High Up, Up Black and Up White. British television show Top Gear presenters mocked the unusual name by calling the model "Up-exclamation-mark".
The Up was introduced on the German market on 3 December 2011. Deliveries to other European markets began in April 2012.
In 2013, Volkswagen introduced the cross up! model, which has 15 mm more ground clearance than the standard model, and comes with plastic side skirts and wheel-arch flares as standard.
In 2014, at the Geneva Motor Show, Seat presented the 2014 Seat Mii by Mango model aimed towards women, made in collaboration with the Spanish fashion company Mango.
The SEAT Mii limited production started in October 2011 for the European market, with sales having started at the end of 2011. The final version was launched in May 2012.
The Up was sold in Australia until 2015, when it was withdrawn due to slow sales. Plans for the Škoda Citigo to be sold in Australia were also shelved.
At the Geneva Motor Show in 2016, the model sold in Europe received a facelift and the new TSI engine, that went on sale in the summer the same year.
The Up was not sold in North America, CIS countries, Middle East, India, China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. Japanese sales began in October 2012. Due to its small size, the Up was one of Volkswagen's successful introduction in Japan. The Up was also launched in South Africa in March 2015. Two models were offered at launch, both are the 1.0-litre 55 kW three-door variant. The two local options were marketed as Take Up, and the Move Up.

Latin America

In February 2014, Volkswagen introduced a modified version of the Up for Latin America. Built in Brazil, the Latin American Up differs from its European counterpart in length, thanks to revisions to the floorpan's rear section to accommodate a larger fuel tank, a full-sized spare wheel and increased cargo space. All versions have revised tailgates with a painted metal section instead of the dark glass trim used in Europe. The five-door Brazilian Up also uses a different rear door design with sectioned glass and wind-down windows. The South American model retains the European version's safety levels with a five-star crash rating and ample use of high-strength steel elements.
In July 2015, Volkswagen introduced a new powertrain for the Up sold in Brazil, using a 1.0-litre, direct fuel injection three-cylinder turbocharged engine.

Up GTI

In mid-December 2016, Volkswagen presented the Up GTI. It is powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder TSI petrol engine, which produces. It is capable of accelerating in 8.8 seconds with a top speed of. Weighing just, Volkswagen claims that it is capable of delivering between to depending on the specifications, with emissions between 127 and 129 g/km. It is the only Up to be available with a six-speed manual gearbox. The Up GTI went on sale in January 2018.
In April 2019, ordering for the Up GTI was halted in the United Kingdom, but in January 2020 VW UK started taking orders again for a lightly refreshed version. The refresh included small optional equipment changes, but no alterations to the powertrain, chassis or brakes. As of January 2023, new orders for the Up GTI were closed to allow time to complete orders before the GTI model ceased production.

E-up

First iteration

In July 2010 VW announced the production version of the E-up electric car, with sales scheduled to begin in 2013, and was subsequently unveiled at the September 2013 International Motor Show Germany.
The production version has an 18.7 kWh lithium-ion battery able to deliver on the NEDC cycle, can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 12.4 seconds and has a top speed of. The E-up can be charged with 2.3 kW plugged into any standard 230 V socket, with 3.6 kW via a home-installed wall box or with up to 40 kW plugged into a DC fast-charging station via the optional Combined Charging System, which allows the battery to charge up to 80% in under 30 minutes. The production version has the same dimensions as the five-door petrol model with seating for four.

Second iteration

A second iteration of the e-up was announced on 5 September 2019. It is equipped with a larger 32.3 kWh battery, a range of and efficiency of 12.7 kWh/100 km. 32.3 kWh is the usable capacity, while the total capacity is 36.8 kWh.
The Škoda version was released as the Škoda Citigo-e iV, with a 36.8 kWh battery capacity and a range of 270 km under WLTP standard, and was mass-produced from autumn 2019. It is the first all-electric car of Škoda Auto and replaced the combustion engine version. Similarly, the petrol-powered Seat Mii was replaced with an electric version, the Mii Electric.

Sales and market

Retail deliveries began in Germany in October 2013, followed shortly after by Denmark, Sweden, France, Norway, and the Netherlands, and the UK at the end of January 2014. The E-up! is not sold in the U.S. or Canada.
As of January 2020, Volkswagen have sold 21,000 E-up! Worldwide.

Technical data

Powertrain

Both engines are also available with BlueMotion technologies, which incorporates a start-stop system and regenerative brakes to reduce carbon emissions. Depending on markets, some 60PS and 75PS models are available with optional five-speed automatic transmission.

Safety

ANCAP

Latin NCAP

In 2014, the Latin-American Volkswagen Up was evaluated under the Latin NCAP 1.0 assessment and achieved a 5-star security rating for adults and 4-star security rating for children:
TestScorePoints
Adult93.29% 15.86 out of 17
Children80.69% 39.54 out of 49

Euro NCAP

2011

In 2011, the SEAT Mii was evaluated for its safety performance under the Euro NCAP assessment scheme and it achieved a 5-star overall rating:

2019

The Up in its standard European market configuration received 3 stars from Euro NCAP in 2019, with the Mii and Citigo shared its results.

Environmental performance

In February 2019 Green NCAP assessed Volkswagen Up GTI with 1.0-litre TSI engine and 6-speed manual gearbox:

Škoda Citigo

The Škoda Citigo is a rebadged version of the Up, with slightly different front and rear fascias. The Citigo was launched in the Czech Republic in October 2011. It began sales in other European countries from summer 2012. It was manufactured at the Volkswagen Plant in Bratislava, Slovakia. Plans for sales in Russia and most other CIS countries were cancelled due to its dimensions being deemed too small for the market. The Škoda Citigo was also sold in Israel and New Zealand for a short time. The Citigo was slightly updated with a facelift model in 2017. A fully electric version, the Škoda Citigo-e iV, with a 36.8kWh battery capacity and a range of 270 km under WLTP standard, was mass-produced from autumn 2019 and replaced the combustion engine version. It was the first all-electric car of Škoda Auto. In autumn 2020, Škoda terminated the sale of Citigo electric cars.
DesignationDisplacement, valvetrain / capacityMotive power at max. rpmMax. torque at rpmGearbox, driveTop speed0–100 km/h Comb. consumption
1.0 MPI999 cm3, 12V44 kW at 5000 rpm at 3000–4300 rpm5 speed man/aut14.4 s4.4 L
1.0 MPI999 cm3, 12V55 kW at 6200 rpm at 3000–4300 rpm5 speed man/aut13.2 s4.5 L
1.0 CNG999 cm3, 12V50 kW at 6200 rpm at 3000 rpm5 speed manual16.3 s4.4 m3
Electric36.8kWh60 kW 1 speed12.3 s12.8 kWh