Volkswagen Up! coming in 2010

Volkswagen will unveil the production version of the Up! Concept in 2010. It will come to compete with Fiat 500 and the all-new Toyota iQ. Up was first unveiled as a concept car last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It has a super-compact, rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive powertrain, and promises to be incredibly environmentally friendly, with low CO2 emissions.

The production version will maintain all the cheekiness and stand-out style of the concept. And that’s no surprise; bosses at VW have always made it clear that the production up! would look virtually identical to the model seen on the stands at Frankfurt.

It will be offered in both in petrol or diesel version, and have a capacity of around 600cc. Both units are likely to be turbocharged, and Volkswagen is targeting CO2 emissions of less than 100g/km and combined fuel economy of 94mpg. A 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol motor is under consideration, too.

The production version Up! will be offered in both three and five-doors version; but a MPV will follow at a later date. A hybrid version is also under consideration.