Volkswagen Reveals Production 56mpg Up! Subcompact

[boydg1]

Volkswagen Reveals Production 56mpg Up! Subcompact

http://www.dailytech.com/Volkswagen+Reveals+Production+56mpg+Up+Subcompact+/article22504.htm

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[Aaronbrook37]

"There are currently no plans to bring the Up! to the U.S., which is probably for the better. Americans have typically shunned such diminutive vehicles in the past."

This author lost all of my respect by saying this. And I'm not even American or anywhere near close to it. The reality is that sometimes these vehicles aren't practical for American families. North American people are big and tall... and the trend is only growing. If you have a family of three or more and can only afford one car, it sure as heck isn't going to be a sub-compact. Even if you can afford two cars, I suspect one would be a wagon/van/trip-mobile and the other would be a standard sedan.

You can't drive across the continental US in an entire day like you can in Europe. Many forum members have commutes longer than is comfortable in one of those cars. I realize we're Festiva owners and that could be contrasted strongly with us, but we are hardly the norm with our appreciation and love for the classic econobox.

[crazyrog17]

Well I like the looks of it except for the stupid smile they integrated into the front. I hate the ones Mazda has too.

I probably would have a Mazda 2 in the driveway right now if it weren't for it. I test drove it, figured out financing and everything! Just makes it look like a baby.

[Hot_Wheels]

i think its pretty crappy for them to assume US citizens will not like these cars, with such a benefit of that much in gas savings i would be interested in owning one. Look at the festiva/aspire they where a success, every time gas goes up the value of the festiva raises, and you can see the results on craigslist, when gas was staying above the 4.00 mark i saw so many post wanted to buy festiva/geo ect, and i would see rusty beat up festiva's selling for 1500+, there's a big turn in the subcompact market with all the new line up like the Chevy Cruze, Aveo, Ford fiesta, Nissan Cube, Kio Soul ect, but i think these are all going to fail, and its mainly because they refuse to bring the diesel and other gas savings technologies to the US, think about it would you want a Ford Fiesta that gets a high way mpg of 40 mpg or a ford Taurus that can get 32 mpg highway, now there's a big price difference between both and i would say hey ill take the loss of 8mpg for the luxury of a sedan, now say you take that same Taurus vs. a car like this that can get 56mpg i would say it would pay for it self over the course of a couple years and see the benefit of going with a sub compact. Im just not impressed with the US sub compacts and i think there purposely making them not so appealing so they can push the bigger cars.

[FB71]

that's funny, I just read in Automotive News that VW was looking at the US marketability for the UP...

[Aaronbrook37]

i think its pretty crappy for them to assume US citizens will not like these cars, with such a benefit of that much in gas savings i would be interested in owning one. Look at the festiva/aspire they where a success, every time gas goes up the value of the festiva raises, and you can see the results on craigslist, when gas was staying above the 4.00 mark i saw so many post wanted to buy festiva/geo ect, and i would see rusty beat up festiva's selling for 1500+, there's a big turn in the subcompact market with all the new line up like the Chevy Cruze, Aveo, Ford fiesta, Nissan Cube, Kio Soul ect, but i think these are all going to fail, and its mainly because they refuse to bring the diesel and other gas savings technologies to the US, think about it would you want a Ford Fiesta that gets a high way mpg of 40 mpg or a ford Taurus that can get 32 mpg highway, now there's a big price difference between both and i would say hey ill take the loss of 8mpg for the luxury of a sedan, now say you take that same Taurus vs. a car like this that can get 56mpg i would say it would pay for it self over the course of a couple years and see the benefit of going with a sub compact. Im just not impressed with the US sub compacts and i think there purposely making them not so appealing so they can push the bigger cars.

You definitely have got that one right! Besides, I would assume the profit margins are better on bigger cars even after offsetting the cost of materials, transportation, and design. It can't possibly cost 5 times as much to build a Lancer Evolution or Honda S2000 as it does to build a Hyundai Accent.

[Safety Guy]

Aaron wrote:

"It can't possibly cost 5 times as much to build a Lancer Evolution or Honda S2000 as it does to build a Hyundai Accent."

You're not factoring in the special costs associated with the endangered species Corinthian Leather, the automated power facial hair groomer or the gyro stabilized limited edition pinata package!

Karl

[Larry Hampton]

I love my festy for driving in town, but driving for several hours is not something that excites me.

[DriverOne]

I would take my Festiva cross country if I had the chance. I love my car. I don't want, nor do I need anything more. If I had an SUV, it would probably be a Montero or a RAV-4. It's just me and my wife. Our friends ride with us, and don't mind the smaller vehicles. In fact, one of them wants a Festiva for her daily driver. To me, the Focus is a large car.