The Volkswagen Group triplets Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii were introduced ten years ago. For now, a sequel is pending. Can we do without it, or would a new chapter be a wise move?
In the fall of 2011, we were introduced to three little ones: the Volkswagen Up, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii. “What Groupe PSA can do, so can we”, they must have thought in Wolfsburg. A little triplets that had to turn the A-segment upside down. Well, that worked out nicely. The compact rascals were sold by the bunch. Not only to private individuals, because quite a few companies apparently found them ideal as well. Not infrequently you come across Upjes with advertising on it.
The Volkswagen Up even came with a real GTI.
Initially, the triplets only came on the market with petrol engines, but later fully electric variants were also introduced. They had to pull the cart almost completely towards the end, the really large sales numbers were already a thing of the past for a while. Newer competitors, such as the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10, are already eating quite a bit of cheese. The choice for electric versions could no longer change that.
Even though the popularity of the first years is long gone: Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat can look back on a success story. Especially Volkswagen, which sold no less than 93,000 Ups in the Netherlands alone. The Skoda Citigo (16,962 units) and Seat Mii (16,190 units) lagged somewhat behind in popularity. Because of its success, you would think that a sequel only makes sense. However, that is very uncertain for the time being.
Toyota Aygo X
While Hyundai and Kia are happily continuing with the i10 and Picanto and Toyota launching the brand new Aygo X respectively, Peugeot and Citroën have given up on the 108 and C1 and the Volkswagen Group also seems to be throwing the towel in the A-segment ring. You can still order a new Up here in the Netherlands, or an e-Up or Mii Electric from stock, but that will undoubtedly stop soon. How then? There is a good chance that the Volkswagen Group will leave the smallest segment (for now) for what it is. For the same reason other manufacturers pull out: there is very little profit margin on the cheapest models. Add to this the fact that profit should no longer come from numbers due to the worldwide chip shortage and it seems extremely illogical that the Volkswagen Group will soon conjure up successors from the top hat.
However, it is not completely excluded that new little rascals from the Volkswagen Group will come. After all, the MEB platform developed especially for EVs can be used for even more compact models than the ones we know today. Consider, for example, the production version of the Volkswagen ID Life. In turn, he will in any case also get a Cupra cousin. However, that will be cars of the size Polo and Ibiza. There is not yet a concrete sign of life of even smaller company. At the beginning of 2020, AutoWeek already sketched what an electric Volkswagen Up successor could look like. The ‘Volkswagen ID1’. Perhaps the Volkswagen Group sees bread in the long run with an electric powertrain.
What do you think: will the Up, Citigo and Mii have successors? Let me know in the comments.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl