Bring The 2013 Volkswagen up! To North America

Don't expect to see the 2013 Volkswagen Up on North American roads in the near future. Do expect to see the Volkswagen Up listed as the up! or even the up but lazily, the Up.

The Good Car Guy can think of multiple reasons Volkswagen should bring the Up to North America. Here's a list of reasons you should consider before scanning the Gallery of official production 2013 Volkswagen Up images below.

1. The 2013 Volkswagen Up is a very handsome city car; obviously odd and inexpensive looking but quite classy nonetheless. Handsome sells.


2. The 2013 Volkswagen Up is something of a Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle successor: a car for the people, the masses, the proletarians, the common man. In case you're unfamiliar with that Beetle ancestor, it was a rather successful machine.


3. Others are doing it. The Chevrolet Spark and Scion iQ haven't yet proven that there's a market for tiny cars in the United States and Canada, but Volkswagen's background seems to suggest that if any automaker could make hay in this segment, it's VW.


4. MQB, the name of the Up's platform, makes it sound as though the Up will be cheap to build. See, by using a modular platform that will eventually be found underneath cars as large as the next Passat, Volkswagen is sure to save money, thereby lowering the risk quotient of introducing a car to North America that has a decent chance of failing.


5. Whether it's generated by coal, wind, or water, electricity is anticipated to be the cool new way to power cars in the near future. Volkswagen says the Up will be offered in electric form, and since the car is so cheap to begin with, perhaps the Up-based Nissan Leaf alternative won't cost more than $30K in the USA.


6. Yeah, it's really cheap. Of course, you don't receive a lot of car in return. The Up is powered by no more than 74 horsepower. (How 'bout a 110-hp Up GTI for fun in an urban environment?) At €9500 the Up sounds expensive on pure currency exchange terms. €9500 equals $13,675 USD today, or $13,537 CDN. But keep in mind that in Germany Volkswagen's Golf starts at the equivalent of $24,436 USD, a fair bit above America's $17,995 point of entry. If, like the Golf's, the Up's price equals a 35.7% premium, we can assume the Up's price would fall from €9500 to something significantly less than $10,000 USD.


7. Volkswagen is selling more and more cars in North America, but the brand has set goals to go even higher. Wouldn't a showroom full of inexpensive city cars offset the blandness of the likely-successful 2012 Passat? And come on, admit it: the Up would be a nice stepping point up to the gaaahrgeous Bulli van, the concept version of which stoked desire in the hearts of.... everyone.

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