#VolkswagenUp

Volkswagen‘s Up! continued the trend from the past four years of small cars winning the World Car of the Year Award at the New York Auto Show today.

“Our goal was always to make something small great,” a Volkswagen executive said on stage.

To garner the award, the Up! beat both the volume-selling and luxurious BMW 3 Series and the thrilling Porsche 911. The victory suggests that journalists across the world are putting a growing emphasis on greener, or at least more fuel-efficient vehicles.

This victory for means the automaker won four of the past five years for the most prestigious of the four awards offered by the World Car Awards each year.

Volkswagen will be bringing their hip, new Up! model to the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in four concept flavors to show off its versatility. The four concepts include a Swiss Up!, Winter Up!, Orange x Up!, and Cargo Up!

Whittled down from all the cars in the world, a group of 66 automotive journalists from across the globe have released their top 10 picks for the 2012 World Car of the Year and World Performance Car.

In 1989, Rick Moranis played a nerdy dad who accidentally downsized his children to an insect scale in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. He probably wouldn’t have believed it if someone told him that 23 years later automakers would be doing the same thing to their cars.

A showcase of compact, economic, and intelligent cabin design and ergonomics, Volkswagen reveals the 5-door version of its Up! city-car. Other than the addition of two extra doors for easier accessibility and a more conservative side profile that will further enhance rear visibility, the 5-door version is identical in wheelbase and interior dimensions. Power is available either via a 60-horsepower, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine or a 75 horsepower version. Cargo space within the Up! is nearly 9 cubic feet and can be expanded to 33.6 cubic feet once the rear bench is folded down.  Volkswagen expects to see nearly half of total Up! sales made up of the five-door.

Volkswagen‘s Up! city car will go on sale in the United Kingdom for £7,995 up to £11,180 ($12,422 to $17,371) with deliveries starting in the spring of 2012.

Set to launch in December in the European market, Volkswagen‘s up! looks to be the next great small car in the segment, especially since it’s the first with City Emergency Braking. The up! features a 1.0L three-cylinder gasoline engine with BlueMotion Technology and a Stop/Start system, allowing the powerplants to get 56-mpg from its 59-hp variant and 55-mpg from its 74-hp version. There is also a natural gas engine version with 67-hp and gets a combined fuel consumption of 73-mpg. Volkswagen also announced that they’re considering an electric up! for 2013.

Volkswagen is planning to spread the platform love with its new Up city car, with Czech subsidiary Skoda being the first VW division to get the tiny car, with a SEAT-branded version to follow.