It's been a long time coming but Volkswagen has finally released details of its up! city car. Having been shown in concept form for many years, the up! is finally production ready, and will be aired for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month.

Eschewing some of its concept forebear's packaging innovation - the original concept was rear-engined and rear-wheel drive - and embracing small car convention, the up! is front-engined and front-wheel drive.

Under that bonnet, though, VW is debuting a new generation of three-cylinder petrol engines with outputs of 59- and 74bhp. The most economical - a BlueMotion, stop-start equipped version - will return 67.3mpg on the combined consumption cycle and emit less than 100g/km of CO₂. City-bound drivers with a penchant for extension cables will also be offered an electric variant in time.

The design of the production up! remains faithful to that of its concept models, with VW paying particular attention to interior space. The boot is 251 litres with all seats in position, but it increases to 951 litres with the rear seats fully folded. That's marginally down on the space offered by the VW Fox, but the up! is smaller in dimension than its Brazilian-built relation.

Those used to the austere, low-rent cabin of the Fox will be blown away by the up!'s high quality, high tech interior. Fit and finish will be exemplary, with body-coloured or decor paint across the dash, while VW has integrated a new maps+ system to the up!'s cabin. The infotainment is taken care of by a Personal Infotainment Device, PID, incorporating navigation, telephone, and entertainment. The mobile system, developed with Navigon, snaps into place in the up!'s dashboard, integrating with the car's systems.

Available in Europe from December, right-hand drive examples aren't likely to arrive until the first quarter of 2012. More details and pricing will be available closer to its on-sale date.

Frankfurt Motor Show

Kyle Fortune - 22 Aug 2011