Volkswagen up! is Australia's Most Affordable Five-Star Rated New Car

ZETLAND, AUSTRALIA – Oct 5, 2012: Volkswagen’s revolutionary city car, the up!, has scored the maximum five-star safety rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), making it the most affordable new five-star car on the road.

From just $13,990, the up! brings unprecedented levels of safety to the sub light category, offering innovative technology more commonly found in cars double the up!’s price.

Featuring driver and front passenger airbags, plus front side/ head airbags, ABS with brake assist, ESP and the up!’s much-lauded City Emergency Braking system, the up! is designed with the upmost safety for both passenger and other traffic participants in mind.

Already awarded Europe’s NCAP Advanced Award for its innovative City Emergency Braking function, ANCAP Chairman, Mr Lachlan McIntosh said, “ANCAP is pleased to see that the Up! provides advanced safety features as standard and offers other occupant comforts such as Bluetooth as optional extras," said ANCAP Chairman, Mr Lauchlan McIntosh.

"It is hard to fathom why features that protect vehicle occupants are sold as optional extras by most manufacturers, yet alloy wheels and leather seats, for instance, come as standard. The move by Volkswagen to include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) in the up! as standard across all variants is a welcome change."

"The standard fitment of safety features and safety technologies is something ANCAP has been advocating for some time and all manufacturers should follow Volkswagen's lead," he added.

Volkswagen Group Australia Managing Director, Ms Anke Koeckler, said, “The up! represents a new benchmark in affordable safety, and makes the latest in Volkswagen’s life-saving technology available to the growing sub light segment. The up! truly is The People’s Car.”

The new up! is the first car in its class in the world to have a City Emergency Braking function, which at speeds of between 5km/h to 30km/h detects the risk of an impending collision and can reduce accident severity by initiating automatic brake interventions that can even avoid a crash. So far, the up! is the only vehicle in the segment to be offered with this function.