Ever looked at a VW Polo and thought, “Hmmm, that thing is just far too large. I wish Volkswagen made something much smaller.” No? Me neither. But if tiny cars are your thing, you’re in luck, as VW has confirmed that new up! (yes, lower case and exclamation mark are part of the model name) will be on sale in Europe by the end of the year.

Gallery and Specs after the jump.

This car is properly small, at just 3.5 metres long, it’s a whole 2 metres shorter than an Audi Q7 or Mercedes S Class, for instance. It is billed as a four seater though, and I must admit looks pretty good as well, immediately recognisable as a four seater.

The up! (typing that exclamation mark is going to get annoying) debuts with two brand new, 3 cylinder petrol engines, developing 44kW and 55kW depending on the model variant you may choose. Fuel economy is exceptional, there’s no hybrid or EV trickery here, just good old fashioned frugal fuel use. VW claims 4.2l/100km on the combined EU cycle (highways and city mixed).

This is the first small car to feature emergency automatic stop, named City Emergency Braking. An additional option, the system is active at under 30km/h and uses a laser to detect imminent collisions. It will bring the car to a complete stop depending on the driver inputs or lack thereof.

The infotainment system is also pretty nifty. The entire system is wirelessly connected to a removable touch screen, which clips onto the dash (see images). The system can be plugged in at home and you can download, wait for it, apps for your car. Yes, the age of the car app is upon us.

There are no prices for the SA market as yet and sadly VW SA has said there are no plans to bring it here, but I will eat my new pair of Levi’s if they don’t, because to be honest with competition from Toyota’s Aygo and the Hyundai i10, they would be terribly silly not to.

Ciro De Siena – OverdriveTV