If Volkswagen’s sales pride are the Golf and the Beetle, the German automaker wants to make it the magic three with the Volkswagen Up! The new third Volkswagen bet for sales success will add to the 46 million units sold by the first two Volkswagen best sellers. Who knows? Maybe the Up! alone can double our triple the figures.

Although the Volkswagen Up! city car and the Space Up! minivan are only prototypes at the moment, for sure with the buzz it gets all over the world, it will go on production in let’s say, two or three years time. The two Up! models debuted in different international auto shows and in each event, spectators were awed by their sight.

The compact car wants to be like the Beetle, once branded as the “people’s car”. So to really be the people’s car, VW made it affordable that even young buyers can afford with a tag price of ranging from £6,000 to £7,000.

According to the Up! model development leader, DR. Ulrich Hackenberg, the Up! will be due for production in 2010. See?

“We only show concept cars that are realistic for production. We are now making a business case for a small family of cars based on the Up! concept.” says Hackenberg.

With the Up!, Volkswagen will not allow the Toyota Aygo and Citroen C1 to dominate the smaller and affordable car segment, so the Up! will be the Volkswagen’s presence in the segment.

 “We think a second sector of small cars has now been created and we believe the Up! is the car to bring the VW brand into that sector.” Hackenberg added.

“A key factor for all car firms is to win over younger buyers and then keep them with the brand. Small cars that have an attractive price and good styling appeal to younger people. But they also want a car that is big enough to take their friends, which is what the Up! does.”

If the BMW 1 Series Convertible is solely reigning over the topless cars in Europe, and the Middle East, Audi wants it to last. Fast. Audi’s new topless, the A3 Cabriolet will be the fiercest contender of the one by Bayerische Motoren Werke next spring.

According to Andrew Lipman, Audi Spokesman, the Audi A3 Cabriolet will not be available for the American consumers since the A3 Coupe, to which the convertible is based was also not for sale in the U.S.

The A3 Cabriolet will be available in four engine variations: 1.9-liter and 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesels, and 1.8-liter and 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engines. Initially, the convertible will be available in the all-wheel drive version and not Audi’s exclusive Quattro all-wheel drive.

Although the A3 Cabriolet’s price has not been fixed yet, according one Audi spokesman, the price will be around £20,000. Audi expects that they will be able to sell about 4,500 units on the car’s first year and another 1,000 units on its second year.

One analyst heralded the Audi A3 Cabriolet’s arrival. “It’s gorgeous, they should have done it years ago,” said Christoph Stuermer, a director of product development in the global automotive group of Global Insight in Germany. “They just dragged their feet because they couldn’t muster the money, and they weren’t sure that there would be enough demand for these types of cars, i.e., very small and very expensive. With BMW pulling the 1 Series Cabriolet out of the hat, that gave them the motivation, the kick to finally do it.”

Though Stuermer hadn’t yet driven the new A3 Cabriolet, he said he liked its looks. “The roof folds very low, it doesn’t stick out in any way,” he said. “It just tells you this car is built for looking good.”

J.D. Power’s Schuster said that there has been increasing interest in convertibles. They’ve slowly but steadily gained market share in the past decade. “Technology has helped, the overall look of the product has helped, as well as the general appeal,” Schuster said.

Last week, from December 7 until December 9, at the Miami Design District had been the rendezvous for renowned designers, gallery owners and collectors to share their part in the latest trends in the realm of design. Once again, Audi had been the sponsor and exhibitor for the “Design Miami/2007”, founded by Ambra Medda.

“We want to promote young, progressive art,” explains Ralph Weyler, Member of the Board of Management at Audi AG for Marketing and Sales. “This means placing top priority on innovation and design.”

The Design Miami/2007 unites international design and the art, and it gives Audi the best arena to showcase that their four rings are best among the best of designs and where designers could absorb ideas. Audi’s chief designer, Stefan Sielaff, also believes this: “Future trends and emerging developments are best detected where free art and applied art meet.”

The Audi Cabriolet concept study had its debut in the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, and the Miami Design/2007 sets another stage for the Cabriolet concept study as it is the center of the designer’s affair. Predicted to catch everybody’s attention as the study presents ultimate performance wrapped in elegant styling. Bearing the title, “Wire frame”, Cables stretched under tension in the atrium of the Moore Building exhibition hall simulate the vehicle’s design lines in a three dimensional space and round off this extraordinary creation.

Named after the initial stage of the plastic design process, the new craft goes with the Audi Design Lab built intended for the Design Miami/2007. It also signifies the inauguration of allowing visitors to be part of the show and actually see how Audi designers sketch their ideas and model it in clay for its miniature.

A panel discussion entitled “The human element. How are designers preserving soul in the 21st Century?” is also another significant event from Audi. The conference is to be presided by famous French designer Matali Crasset, American architect Chad Oppenheim and Swiss gargener Enzo Enea plus Stefan Sielaff, Audi’s chief designer.

Last Wednesday, the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga, Russia was opened. Thanks to the joint efforts of both the Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and the Russian Federation. Prof. Martin Winterkorn represented the Russian division of Volkswagen and the Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Naryshkin was the negotiator for the Russian fed. The two personalities were joined together to share the obligation for the “Group Production” handed to them by Reinhard Jung, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SkodaAuto and Prof. Jochem Heizman, a Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.

"With the start of vehicle assembly at our new plant in Kaluga, the Volkswagen Group has definitively arrived in the emerging Russian market. Local production of Volkswagen and Skoda brand vehicles in the up-and-coming city of Kaluga now gives us the chance to increasingly profit from rapid growth on Russia’s automotive market," Winterkorn commented in Kaluga. The foundation stone at the site located south west of Moscow was laid on October 28, 2006 – exactly thirteen months prior to today’s assembly start-up.

In Russia, the first Volkswagen models to be assembled are the Volkswagen Passats and the Skoda Octavias. However, the new Volkswagen facility is set to produce 66,000 cars carrying the two brands next year. As 2009 approaches, the plant will increase its target production to 150,000.

Reinhard Jung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of SkodaAuto, underlined the significance of the new plant in the "Grabzevo" techno-park: "For Volkswagen and Skoda, Russia is a strategic emerging market. The fact that Skoda has begun to produce the Octavia here is an important signal for the further development of our brand. We already manufacture at three plants in the Czech Republic, as well as in India, Ukraine, Bosnia, Kazakhstan and now Russia. Kaluga is thus our fifth foreign location. Skoda Auto is on the road worldwide."

Prof. Heizmann expressly thanked the Governor of Kaluga oblast, Anatoly Artamonov, and all involved in setting up operations in Russia: "I am delighted that we can start assembling vehicles in Russia today – exactly thirteen months since we laid the foundation stone. I would like to express my appreciation to all our Russian partners and, of course, to our staff who have produced an outstanding performance here in Kaluga. The first plant fitters will begin work in Kaluga during the next few months, and we will then start full production during the first half of 2009."

One of the most prestigious bragging right is to be bestowed in one lucky vehicle of its category next month at the announcement of the International Car of the Year awards.

Last Tuesday, the list of finalists was revealed by the panel of judges and the award sponsors. Assorted automobiles carrying their proud nameplates are included in the best of nominees list.

The Top three vehicles vying for the grandest title of the International Car of the Year award for the first time has two American entries, the celebrated Chevrolet Malibu and the Cadillac CTS against Honda’s bigger Accord sedan.

In the truck Category, Detroit has the most finalists with the already award winning Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid against Chrysler’s new minivans and Mazda’s CX-9 crossover vehicle.

The vehicles are to be judged based on important factors such as car buying and ownership experiences along with the emotional relationship between vehicles and their owners according to ICOTY founder Courtney Caldwell.

"It’s about how cars reflect our lifestyles and image of self, an attitude most consumers identify with.", Caldwell added.

 

The 12th annual ICOTY awards will include eight other categories:

Luxury: Most Respected
Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG, Cadillac CTS, Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG

Sedan: Most Dependable
Chevrolet Malibu, Subaru Legacy 3.0 Limited, Honda Accord Sedan

Entry Level: Most Spirited
Dodge Caliber SRT4, Volvo C30, Ford Focus

Sports Car: Most Sex Appeal
Infiniti G37 Coupe, BMW 335i Convertible, Audi R8

Pickup Truck: Most Athletic
Toyota Tundra, GMC Sierra Denali, Ford F-250 Super Duty

SUV: Most Resourceful
Land Rover LR2, Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI

Minivan/Life Stage: Most Compatible
Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan

Crossover: Most Versatile
Buick Enclave, Volvo XC70, Nissan Rogue

Winners of the International Car of the Year set of awards will be announced on January 12, 2008 before the kick-off of the North American International Auto Show. Another award is to be given, the North American International Car and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards will also be announced before the start of the Detroit International Auto Show. You can expect for the list of the NACTOY finalists next week.

 

Europe’s largest automaker, Volkswagen has been setting some very ambitious plans which is to become the world’s largest automaker by 2018 surpassing Toyota and GM.

To achieve its objective, Volkswagen will employ four new architectures in which the MQB platform will be the cornerstone. This special platform will be utilized for small, lower-medium and upper medium models that would total to around 6 million units and believed to be ideal platform replacement for 20 models. The currently used platform is the VW PQ35/46 employed for 2.3 million units including the VW Golf.

An unnamed source said that the first model to use the new MQB platform could be introduced by 2010 as the next generation VW Touran. This was also what Ulrich Hackenberg, VW Board Member said but has not revealed the model, “MQB is planned for a broad application, from small cars up to and including upper-medium. The first model to emerge can be expected in 2010.”

Still part of the four architectures is the rear-engined MHB platform which is destined to form the basic structure for VW’s new small family of minicars. The Up! Concepts by the way are examples of this segment.

The Munich-based automaker has also a mid-engine sports car platform for the R8 and the Lamborghinis. And let’s just pray that the rumors on Bugatti offering more affordable models will be realized.

Another of the four platforms is the MLB platform with longitudinally mounted engines derived from Audi. Currently the MLB is utilized for the Audi A4 and A5 but according to Hackenberg it may also be used for models up to the largest units in the group including the A6 and A8 as well as the Phaeton and Bentley.

The objective of havng four platforms to cover every model in the VW Group is to reduce development costs by up to 40 percent. It will also enable Volkswagen to develop new and niche models that would quickly respond to the market demand.