VW looking Up

Volkswagen Group Australia boss Jutta Dierks has made no secret of her desire to add a new model at the bottom of the local range underneath the Polo.

Having already ruled out the South American-made Fox hatch, attention has now turned to the up! Concept unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2007.

"The Polo is a given for us but of course we would love to have a car that's less than $16,990," Dierks says.

"So we are still missing an entry level model in our point-of-view. I would love to have a car for $13,990 or $14,990 but we don't have that. And nothing is basically available in our range that would give us that price positioning."

The up! is the spiritual successor to the VW Beetle with a rear-engine and rear-wheel drive layout and a focus on small, affordable transport for the masses. Dierks believes it could be the car to solve Volkswagen Australia's attempts to find a sub-Polo model for the brand. But she warned getting the right model mix could be a challenge.

"It is so difficult for us because we need automatic transmissions, we need right-hand drive, we also have a need for a small car with a powerful engine -- at least one -- and that's so different than the rest of the world," Dierks says.

"Whatever they [VW headquarters] do they focus first on the others and then we try to negotiate what we need. But up! could be a chance for us to come in lower and then hopefully get people very early in their lifecycle because they can only afford $13,990 or $14,990.

"We do very well with the expensive cars but Volkswagen needs entry cars as well. That's not really an entry car at $16,990 if we look around what at all the others can do."