New Volkswagen up! Honoured by What Car?

The Volkswagen up! has been named What Car? Car of the Year 2012. Oh, it claimed the 'Best City Car' title too. What a remarkable achievement for a little machine named after a 'direction'. The 'up!' Really? This run-around is available with two, 1.0-litre petrol, engines with outputs of 60PS and 75PS. These are teamed with five-speed manual transmission, and average 62.7 and 60.1mpg respectively. There is also a highly-efficient BlueMotion trim that returns 68.9mpg. This has extremely low emissions, so it can be taxed for free. Hurray!

What Car? Editor-in-Chief, Chas Hallett, said: ‘The Volkswagen up! sets new standards for a car at £10,000. It’s a city car that can seat four adults, while offering new levels of refinement, quality and maturity at this price

none of its rivals feels quite so grown-up. Buyers will be looking for even more for their money than ever in 2012, so the up! is a worthy winner of the What Car? Car of the Year.’

The Volkswagen up! has three doors, four seats, and three standard trim levels. The entry- level Take up! has: body-coloured bumpers, daytime running lights, plus front and side air-bags. This workhorse costs £7,995. The mid-spec Move up! also has: air-conditioning, electric front windows, easy-entry seats, and body-coloured wing mirrors. Prices for this award-winner start at £8,970. Finally, the top-of-the-range High up! features: heated seats, a leather steering wheel, front fog lights, and fifteen-inch alloy wheels. Nice specification for only £10,390. Finally, Volkswagen has screwed together the special edition up! Black and up! White trims that have metallic paint and chrome. These costs £11,180. Great work, VW.

By Stephen Turvil, motoring.co.uk

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