#VwUp

There’s a new addition to the GTI family, the Up! GTI, and it’s set to make its public debut at the only place it possibly could, the GTI Treffen on Wörthersee in Austria.

The voting is in and the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year is the Range Rover Evoque. The Evoque took home top honors after women motoring writers from 12 different countries chimed in with their votes.

The 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year short list has just been announced, and women motoring writers from around the world will begin voting for their top picks.

Cutting a list of contenders from 300 down to 32, judges will now allocate points to the nominated cars that fall into four categories: Family Car, Luxury Car, Sports Car and Economy Car. Just one of the 10 criteria that cars are allotting points for is Child Friendliness, which is something vehicles aren’t usually judged on in a competition.

Winners of the 2012 Women’s World Car of the Year will be announced before the end of March, and awards will be presented at the Paris Motor Show in September. You can check out the complete short list after below.

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.

The highlight of Volkswagen‘s press conference at the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Up! was designed as a spiritual successor to the original Beetle. Priced at 9,850 Euros (roughly $13,500) it is intended to be the new “people’s car”.

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 now swimming in extra money, and has decided to put it into their electric car program— despite their initial reluctance to enter the EV market.

The Up mini-car concept has been around for a few years already and it seems that a production version is about to get launched. According to reports, the Up e-motion will get the same powertrain as the XL1 Prototype, but since it is a bigger vehicle, will manage a much more modest 95-mpg. The powertrain in question is a 0.8-liter, two-cylinder diesel motor which produces just 47-hp. However, a 26-hp electric motor will also kick in to give the car extra performance while also allowing it to give better mileage. While most hybrids make use of a CVT gearbox, the Up will get a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.