Is The VW Up Going To Get Killed Off In Europe?

We’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the VW Up. It’s an honest, down-to-earth kinda car with charmingly inoffensive styling and - soon - a warmed-up GTI version.

With that in mind, we rather hope it sticks around, but its future in Europe might be under threat. Speaking to Autocar, VW boss Dr. Herbert Diess indicated that a combination of meeting emissions targets and underwhelming European sales put the car’s future on the continent under threat.

“We still see a future for that segment but we have to weigh up how much profit contribution and positive CO2 effects we get,” he said. The problem is now many of the firm’s larger cars seeing their emissions plunge, small cars like the Up don’t have the impact on average CO2 figures like they used to. The answer would be make the Up even cleaner, but that’s not easy to do “without adding a lot of cost,” says Dr. Diess.

In an interview on the same subject with Auto Express, Dr. Diess rather ominously said “We are considering what to offer in Europe,” when it comes to the next Up. Here’s hoping a successor still happens…