This is the international debut of the latest Volkswagen ‘Up!' concept, which follows the E-Up! at Frankfurt and its rear engine concept car predecessors from two years previously. Like the E-Up!, the Up! Lite has a front engine and previews a production series due in 2011.
The Up! Lite name belies its low weight; at 695kg it's 50kg lighter than the tiny Smart ForTwo, although this is achieved through the use of aluminum and carbon fiber which surely won't be making it to production given their high cost. The diesel-electric hybrid powertrain (which was previewed in the narrow L1 concept from Frankfurt) won't be cheap either, but works with the car's low weight and remarkably low drag coefficient of 0.237, to make it the world's most fuel efficient four seat car (70mpg / 2 liters per 100km / 65g CO2 per km).
Proportionally the Up! Lite is a rakish three door hatchback with hints of the current Polo in the DLO and perhaps of a reduced height Audi A2 in its silhouette, but with a notably short front overhang which shifts visual mass rearwards. Look closer and there are some interesting design features: an active low set front grille that opens when needed and appears just like a smile, a clam shell hood that slides forwards to reveal fluid refill points at the base of the windshield, and wheels with ten carbon fiber cables in tension to supplement the conventional spokes behind the aero-style hubcaps.
The form language is close to that of the L1 and progresses the emergent more formal ‘product' Volkswagen aesthetic. Broadly there were two views on this from the designers we spoke to: it's great that Volkswagen is taking this more formal direction; it doesn't look modern enough.
The interior similarly relates to previous Up! concepts but introduces new ideas such as a full width IP air vent, gear selector as hand rest for when using the integrated touch-screen based secondary control interface, and exquisite use of materials and colors.
This design is dominated by its mono-space theme that tapers in plan forwards to reflect its arrow-head three seat configuration. Look inside and the rational for the seating layout is the same as the McLaren F1 that pioneered it: to allow seating for more than two in a short length by putting the passengers' legs and feet to the sides of the driver, while the driver's legs and feet sit between the front wheels. But what you also see when you look inside the P-NUT is a very crude model and a design that appears little developed: there was scant detailing and negligible use of color or materials.
The exterior perhaps also suffers from an apparently rushed and/or under-resourced design process, but there is an appealing uniqueness to the concept, some great details and some impressive resolution also.
The front face is perhaps the least comfortable aspect with an overly literal ‘mean face'. This is made of a low set mouth/grille glazing element (that augments forward visibility) connected to the lamps. Just above the DRG is a visually weak point where the tapering A-pillars form two sharp corners with no supporting ‘mass'. But the dramatic tapering A-pillars is unique and also creates a broad front shoulder that tapers rearwards, which lends an appealing robustness to this small car. The shoulder surface is near horizontal with a sharp crease delineating the sheer body-side that on closer inspection has some subtle surfacing and plan shape. The body side's relationship with the shoulder is complemented by a similar relationship with the rocker that also borrows thinking from last year's Honda FC Sport show car in tapering under the car. At the rear there are hints of the fantastic Honda Bulldog concept from 2001 with an upright narrow rear aspect flanked by deep section shoulders.
The P-NUT is a fun little concept, but like previous Honda concepts from the Southern California studio, we can't help but wish it was a little less superficial in its thinking and execution.
This is perhaps the most significant international production design debut of the show. The all-new third generation Sienna follows its predecessors in being a full size MPV with a fairly conventional overall theme as befitting its market aspirations, but introduces innovative functional interior design features and some unexpected panache to the exterior too.
The most explicit interior design innovations are in the second row of seats. Two captains' chairs have leg rests that lift up - much as they do in business class aircraft seating - to afford uniquely comfortable passenger accommodation. And when seating for a third person on the second row is required, a slim but surprisingly comfortable seat can be taken out of its dedicated storage space at the left side of the trunk, unfolded and connected to the left of the two second row seats. The other major new interior feature is the widescreen LCD screen that folds down from the roof and can either provide a 16-inch wide single display (big enough to be viewed from the third row if second row heads don't get in the way) or two displays side-by-side.
There are other interior design innovations: a centre console can be slid backwards to reach second row seating, air vents in the roof for all three rows, and numerous useful functional details like hooks to hang bags off and power sources for all rows.
The previous Sienna dressed its spacious package in a typically Toyota and typically MPV orthodox form, but this time Calty has given the Sienna a more fore-square stature from a dynamic DLO, higher hood, large wheels and imposing DRG. It has also introduced some well resolved, but more entertaining, surfacing and details that successfully puts some distance between the new Sienna and its prosaic predecessors. This is very accomplished design.
