TRADITIONALLY Volkswagen had never majored in the city car arena until the arrival of the up!

This versatile little number opened new doors for the German giant and is available in a range of models to suit most people to whom small is beautiful.

This particular car was a High up! five-door 75ps, situated towards the top end of the range spectrum an would set you back £12,280.

The big news about this model is, without doubt the engine, a 1.0-litre three-cylinder four valve petrol unit, set up with VW's BlueMotion technology and driven via a five-speed gearbox.

Capable of 106mph and a 0-62mph sprint of 13.5 seconds, it delivers a 68.9mpg combined economy figure with CO2 emissions of just 96g/km.

With its pure design, maximum space on a minimal footprint, quality and attention to detail as well as affordable innovations it embodies the core values of the Volkswagen brand which is important to many when you look and the massive amount of cars the company is selling at the moment.

The car was one of the new-look models released last year, featuring a redesigned exterior, fresh colours and a revised infotainment system.

Built at the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, dimensions are key to the up!'s city car status.

At 3,600 mm in length, 1,641 mm in width and 1,463 mm in height, the up! is one of the smallest four-seater cars available. Its overall length consists of short body overhangs and a long wheelbase of 2,407mm. Thanks to these dimensions the turning circle of the up! is an unusually compact 9.8 metres.

There is plenty of room for four adults due to the wheelbase, which is one of the longest in the segment, combined with an engine that is mounted well forward. The 251-litre boot is also significantly larger than is typical in this class. When the rear seat is fully folded, cargo space increases to 959 litres.

All models have a raft of safety features including ABS and four airbags, and all have Electronic Stability Control as standard. An important safety technology option is City Emergency Braking, which at speeds of under 19mph detects the risk of an impending collision and can reduce accident severity by initiating automatic brake interventions that can even avoid a crash.

An owner's smartphone can now be docked and after downloading the ‘Maps + More' app, the smartphone's functionality is accessible from inside the car. The phone screen is used as the display, with features such as navigation, telephone, car-specific information and more.

The up! competes in the city car class, a rival to such vehicles as the Toyota Aygo, Citroën C1, Peugeot 107, Fiat 500 and Hyundai i10, and brings a healthy slice of that individual VW driving experience to this vibrant sector.

The breadth of BlueMotion Technology modifications varies from range to range. In the up! it incorporates low rolling resistance tyres and low-friction ancillary engine component drives, as well as Start/Stop and battery regeneration systems.