I am a huge fan of small euro hatchbacks. They are fun to drive, practical, and get the job done! Since the original Beetle and Golf, VW have struggled to come up with a cheap, useable, attractive car that can be used by the masses. I have to say that my experiences with the euro VW Polo were impressive, and i think the Polo is a great car—–but still not ‘common’ enough to make a global impact. I am gonna hope that the new Up! gets the job done. Why? It is a 3-cylinder rear-engined 4-seat hatchback. Back to the glory days of VW, innit? It doesn’t look ‘charming’ like the original Beetle, but times have changed—-i stand corrected—-it is not rear-engined any more! However this Up! does come with a nice, clean, minimalist design. It remains to be seen if this car makes it over here. At a starting price of 8500 Euros, the Up! will surely make an impact IMO.
This is how you make a cool subcompact, Fiat—-not an overpriced, overstyled piece of crap! I just wish VW would have stuck to the rear-engined format.
source: Autocar
IEDEI 
Up! GTI? Yes please.
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/25/rendered-speculation-vw-up-gti
With that last remark I assume you’re referring to the 500 and in that case I don’t completely disagree. But Fiat has so much more on offer (at least here in Europe) and are still the brand with the nicest range of compact cars, in all shapes and sizes.
P.S. The VW Up looks and drives fine, but I couldn’t get used to that 3-cylinder engine…
Yes, i was referring to the 500—-not to ‘other’ cars that Fiat makes. I know their other cars are very value-oriented and offer great packages for people looking for small, hatchback options….doesn’t Fiat use 2-cylinder Twin Air options?
Yeah they do. And apparently those TwinAir engines are pretty nice to drive too, lots of power for such a tiny little engine.