One Up For The up! As New Baby Volkswagen Claims Topgear Award

MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM – Nov 30, 2011: Volkswagen’s new city car, the up!, has claimed its first award, being named Small Car of the Year by the UK’s best-selling motoring title, TopGear magazine.

Voted for by the staff of the magazine and the BBC’s ever-popular television show, the award gives the up! its first accolade even before it is launched. In summing up, the TopGear judges said: ‘It is the cleverest small car around today, the city car we know VW was capable of producing, the distilled essence of Volkswagen.’

The Volkswagen up! is an all-new city car which offers maximum space on a minimal footprint, and embodies the core values of the brand in an innovative and compact package. Prices start at £7,995 for the entry-level Take up! model with the new 1.0-litre 60 PS petrol engine. Retailers in the UK began taking orders for the all-new up! at the start of October ahead of the first deliveries in March 2012.

Commenting on the award, Director of Volkswagen, Chris Craft said: ‘This is a brilliant award with which to begin the up!’s trophy tally, and we hope the TopGear accolade will be the first of many.

‘The up! is a hugely important car for Volkswagen which will appeal to a wide range of customers. Technological innovations, value for money and the highest quality standards make this – as the TopGear judges have said – a genuine small Volkswagen rather than just another small car.’