Thinking Small
The spotlight of the Frankfurt auto show was mostly kept focused on two top carmakers as they have been successful in delivering what the people are looking for: small cars that are totally eco-friendly. Hence, it was the German genius of Volkswagen and Japan giant Toyota that reigned among the rest, the VW Up! and Toyota’s iQ. The good thing about them, is that these cars are for real—they are not just concepts—they are both four-seater cars that focus in getting the best in fuel efficiency, and in making less emissions.
The Volkswagen Up! Is comparatively longer to the contender of the Toyota, the iQ, with its high quality VW Parts and about a 3.45 m excess. It is still shorter though to VW’s new baby car, the Fox. The creation of VW”s chief designer Walter de Silva will reportedly go into production at around the year 2009, with a very captivating selling price of only €6,000. The car’s three-cylinder engine promises to maximize fuel consumption of around 70 mpg. The Up! Is all prepped up by Volkswagen to become their next icon car, and they are hoping that it will follow the footsteps of its predecessors, the Beetle or the Golf.
Meanwhile, since most car owners have known just how Toyota handled the green market with their Hybrid flagship, the Prius, the iQ is sure to be put into production with the same green technology but with the new twist. Toyota plans to incorporate a new car capability wherein it could be charged at any electrical power socket. This might be another first, which is probably why car companies are now up and running on their feet to follow suit. But VW is already through that phase, all they have to worry about is how to further enhance the VW parts to make the Up! climb a notch higher against its competition.