India is predominantly a small car market, so the time when VW unveiled their new small car, Up!, for European market, we were hopeful that the car will be brought to India soon. From the time of its unveiling, everyone in India has been quizzing Volkswagen about the Up! and the possibility of India launch. While, VW never denied the fact that they were interested in bring the car to India, they also confirmed that it was not economically viable without heavy localization.
Sometime back, we were told that the VW will conduct a feasibility test to check the possibility of launching the Up! in India. It seems that our friends at Team-Bhp have caught couple of these test Up!s on their mission for India. Both three-door and five-door versions were caught together – one of the cars had automatic transmission and plush interiors available only in much higher segments here. The Up! is powered by 3-cylinder engine tuned to produce 59bhp and 74bhp and this is the cheapest VW available in the European market.
Volkswagen Up! in its current form will not be launched in India, the company will have to localize many components and subtract features to reduce costs. In case the small car gets a go ahead, it will be production ready earliest by mid-2013, while more realistic date will be January 2014. In Europe the Up! competes with the Suzuki Alto (A-St ar), while here it will be pitched against the Honda Brio, Ford Figo and Maruti Ritz. If the VW Up! gets a thumbs-up , the Skoda Citigo (same car with Skoda badge) will also be brought here.
Source: MandarMax via Team-Bhp
