VW prepares hot hatch Up

But no diesel or LPG for now
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Volkswagen will add a hot hatch version of its Up city car late next year or early in 2013 – but it won’t wear the famous GTI badge.

The German maker is developing a turbo-charged version of the 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that powers the regular models.

But the sports version will stop short of GTI credentials, one of the engineers responsible for development of the Up told motoring.com.au.

“It will be a sports version and not a GTI because in order to qualify as a GTI it would have to come up to a certain kilowatts number, and we don’t get this with a three cylinder turbo,” said Helene Vogel from Volkswagen’s technical project management department, speaking through a translator.

Meanwhile, the company has no plans for a diesel engine option given the majority of sales in the city-car class are of petrol-powered vehicles.

“It’s possible to have a diesel but in this segment and in the European market a diesel engine is not required. But we react to whatever the demand is [but] currently no diesel,” she said.

In Europe the Up is available with an engine that runs on compressed natural gas, but the company has no plans for an LPG version.

“[An LPG version] would be possible because the car is already planned for [CNG], so not too many changes ... would be required. So it would be possible, but it’s not planned for the time being.”

Meanwhile, a five-door version of the Up is due in production from December 2012, followed by a soft-roader styling package for European models from 2013.

The fully electric Up is also due in Europe in 2013, but if the EV gets the green light for Australia it would likely not arrive until 2014.

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