THOSE clever people at Volkswagen are renowned for introducing vehicles that make the market sit up and take notice - and still be producing them decades later.

The Golf, Passat and Beetle being the most notable. Now its new breed of city car, the oddly-named up! could well join that elite band.

It's another one of those affordable big little cars, but not cheap and nasty.

It's cheap enough with the base model coming in at a fiver over £8,000, but you miss some of the creature comforts like electric windows and manually adjustable door mirrors.

However if you want the bells and whistles, the range-topper will set you back more than £11,500. Food for thought when you could get a bigger car for the same kind of money.

Unlike some other city cars, this, like the Fiat 500, has a desirability factor, amply demonstrated by inquisitive looks and inspections on the car park.

Cheap to buy and with its one-litre, three cylinder engine in two power options - 60 and 75ps - frugal on fuel and low on emissions.

That means it is cheap to fill up, tax and insure and trips to the petrol stations will be much less frequent. It also attracts a low benefit in kind taxation for business users of 12 per cent.

It is stylish with boxy, but funky styling, large glass areas, neat light clusters and an eye-catching grille and wheel trims.

Inside, VW makes a virtue of the painted dash and door areas, just like the rival Fiat, and in typical VW fashion, everything feels well screwed together with clear, concise instrumentation and robust swtichgear.

The top grade High up! model I drove also featured a detachable sat nav system called Maps & More which organises navigation, telephone, information and entertainment functions, as well as providing vehicle instrumentation and operating instructions. It also monitors your driving style and encourages laying off the accelerator with clever prompts that give instant fuel consumption readouts.

On the road the car is more than nippy with precise handling and it acquits itself well when cornering. But I was less than impressed with the ASG gearbox (automatic selection gearbox) that proved notchy and at times frustratingly searched to find the right gear.

I spent most of the time changing gear manually and much prefer the manual gearbox.

Despite its boxy shape it relishes being thrown into bends and grips the tarmac firmly, while the steering is precise.

Both versions of the engine deliver excellent economy with a claimed 62.8mpg for the 60ps and just over 61mpg for the 75bhp, while the BlueMotion Technology model is claimed to deliver 68.9mpg with CO2 emissions of 96g/km, which takes it out of the road tax bracket.

The automatic proved much less frugal with the trip computer showing under 46mpg.

The car is 3.5m long, 1.6m wide, and 1.5m tall, a long wheelbase, but short body overhangs, means it is capable of seating four tallish adults in comfort and is an absolute doddle to park.

Boot space is also impressive in such a small car with 251 litres available and a clever stacking system. Fold the rear seats and 951 litres become available.

Three versions are available with the entry level Take up!, Move up! and High up! and offer generally decent levels of equipment. And it is available in three and five door spec.

The base model has wind-up windows and manually adjustable door mirrors plus plenty of other features including speed-sensitive power-assisted steering and a decent RCD 215 radio/MP3 compatible CD player and AUX-in socket for connection to an external media source.

If you want more, you pay more.

All models have comprehensive safety kit with ABS and four airbags, while all except the Take up! also have stability programme while the High up! adds traction control.

A funky desirable little car, it could be around for quite a while to come