Volkswagen’s key new model, the Up microcar, will be delayed by up to five months until 2011.
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VW managers have decided to switch the engine from the rear to the front, according to Automotive News Europe (ANE). Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said the Up would have its engine in the front.
“Our engineers favoured a rear engine and fought until the end for that solution,” Winterkorn told ANE.
VW’s management overruled their engineers to cut development costs. Placing the engine in the front will allow the Up to share more components – especially engines and transmissions – with other VW models such as the Polo.
Having a rear engine layout would give the Up more passenger space. “A rear engine also favours hatchback and minivan variants but is more complicated for a sedan. Also cooling a rear engine is problematic,” a VW source said.
VW plans to build hatchback, minivan and sedan versions of the Up for the VW, Skoda and Seat brands in a range it codenames ‘new small family’.
VW wants to sell at least 500,000 units of the Up model family in Europe, emerging markets, and possibly in the US each year. The car’s launch was scheduled for 2010 but will now be delayed by three to five months until the first part 2011, VW sources said.
The delay means that the Up will go on sale much later than rival microcars planned by Toyota and Fiat. Toyota’s IQ will go on sale in Europe early next year. The Fiat Topolino launches at the end of 2009. Both will have front engines.
