Simplicity key to new VW

Volkswagen is being a little cagey about whether its new small car, the Fox, will appear in New Zealand next year.

The Brazilian-built, three-door hatchback was last week launched at the Leipzig motor show in Germany as the replacement for the Lupo, VW's entry-level small car since the mid-1990s.

The Fox will go on sale in Europe at the end of this month. The first right-hand-drive models will appear in Britain in January.

Fox is one of a handful of new VW models under evaluation for New Zealand next year.

Volkswagen NZ general manager Dean Sheed wouldn't comment on future Golf variants but confirmed he was looking at the new small car.

"The Fox will be available for New Zealand early in 2006 - that is if we say yes to it," he said.

"If we did bring it in, we would look at pricing it around $19,995 and putting it up against cars like the [Toyota] Echo, [Hyundai] Getz and [Honda] Jazz.

"But I have quite a bit of work to do yet on evaluating future models and Fox is just one of them."

If it arrives here it will be the first European-badged new car to be priced under $20,000.

At 3820mm, the Fox is longer than the Lupo but shorter than the Polo, VW's base-model car in New Zealand.

Said Sheed: "It is slightly smaller all-round than the more mature Polo but is more of a fun-focused model aimed at women buyers."

VW in Germany is talking up the car's simplicity as a key to its appeal.

In Europe, it will be offered with the choice of three engines, two petrol units and a turbodiesel.

New Zealand would most likely get the one petrol offering, a 1.4-litre engine producing around 75kW, (100bhp) the same as that used in the Polo.

VW says the rear sea ts in the Fox have been designed to provide the flexibility the city car market requires.

The rear bench is split 50:50 but slides back and forth over 15cm.

Meanwhile, VW's motorsport division in Britain has unveiled a race car development of the new Golf GTi hatchback. The company's performance partner Superchips has remapped the car's engine computer to boost output of the 2.0-litre direct-injection petrol unit by 20 per cent, from the standard 150kW (200bhp) to 175kW (236bhp), 239 PS (236 bhp).

Several other modifications have been made to the standard Golf GTi, including a bespoke race-exhaust system, larger front brakes, revised suspension with two-way adjustable race dampers, Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres and a fully stripped bodyshell with FIA-standard roll cage.