Not long ago, our reader Michael Tomy managed to click the 3-door VW Up! on the streets of Pune. The small hatchback has once again surfaced but this time it was accompanied by its 5-door brother.
The duo was caught testing in Lonavala by our ardent reader Mr. Sumit Gaikwad.
If you take a close look at the pictures, you can identify that the 5-door Up! has some missing bits when compared to the 3-door version. In the 5-door Up!, the door handles are black against the body coloured ones in the other car. The fog lamps and body coloured wing mirrors are found missing in the 5-door Up!
VW India have some issues with the Maharastra state Govt. regarding the refunding of taxes and that has made the German auto giant to tread cautiously with the future plans. Dr. John Chacko, Volkswagen Group's chief representative for India told the Economic Times this week that it’ll take 2-3 years for the Up! to reach India.
Nevertheless, it’s a good sign for us to see the Up! being tested on Indian roads.
See close-up spyshots of the 5-door VW Up!
Dr. Chacko also added that the company is studying the possibilities of a sub-4 metre sedan based on the Up! platform but declined to elaborate on the topic. The Up! is not just a car, but a family of cars such as MPV, electric vehicles, and many more models that will be launched in the future.
A 1.5 litre diesel engine, based on the 1.6-liter engine powering the Vento, for usage across VW and Skoda model portfolios, could be in the works as well. VW may use the Polo's 1.2L motor on the Up! family and upgrade the more expensive Polo platform to the new engine.
Clearly VW India is at the crossroads now and it’ll be premature to predict the company’s next move. However, we do hope that VW will bring the Up! at the earliest and price it to compete with the Chevy Beat, Hyundai i10 and Maruti Wagon R.
[Source: Economic Times]
