The VW Up! concept unveiled at last year’s Frankfurt auto show in September is in the news again, with a huge change to its basic design that should bring it closer to production.
While the concepts, both in 3- and 5-door guise, used a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout similar to the original Beetle’s, the latest reports from Germany have the car moving the powertrain up front, in line with the vast majority of modern econo-cars.
In this time of tight budgets, high gas prices and customers who are less and less likely to part with their hard-earned cash on brand new wheels, VW has decided to use its current FWD platform for the Up! The engines for the Europe-bound Up! will include VW’s 1.2-liter range, according to an Autozeitung report.
A hybrid version of the small people mover is expected, along with gasoline and diesel-powered derivatives. We wonder how high gas prices will have to climb in North America before buyers’ spending habits convince VW to bring a version of the Up! here in the future.
