Autoblog UK

The VW Polo took the Golden Steering Wheel award in the small car category. The VW Polo has been around since 1975. The mark 5 version of Volkswagen's small car was launched in 2009. The Polo is available as a 3 or 5 door hatchback saloon. In its original form, it was sparsely equipped. The Polo is now much bigger than the first model. Visually, the new Polo with its broad C-pillars suggesting sturdiness and its wide stance, takes its cues from the current VW Golf. The Polo beat off the following cars: Ford Ka, Suzuki Alto, Hyundai i20, Toyota iQ, Citroen C2 und Nissan Pixo.

The most important prize award for cars in Europe was instituted by the publisher Axel Springer in 1976, and has been awarded annually since then. On the 4th November, top managers from the car industry accepted awards for the model year 2009 at the Axel Springer Building in Berlin. Eight new models in total received a Golden Steering Wheel award. For the third time, a Green Steering Wheel prize was presented for the best eco car. Fiat and Ferrari president, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, received an honorary award.

The winners in the individual categories:

Small car class: VW Polo
Compact class: Vauxhall Astra
Medium class and above: Audi A5 Sportback
Luxury class: Porsche Panamera
Supercar: Mercedes SLS
MPV: Renault Scenic
Eco award: Toyota Prius and VW Blue Motion
Honorary prize: Luca Cordero di Montezemolo

It looks as though open-top specialist Karmann has been thrown a lifeline. Volkswagen have offered the insolvent company a rescue package in the form of a takeover. Apparently, talks are well advanced between the Wolfsburg giant and the north German niche manufacturer. The sticking point appears to be the price, with Karmann claiming to be worth 65 million euros. It is also not quite clear which parts of the company VW intend to swallow up. Karmann currently has a 1,600-strong workforce, 800 of whom are facing immediate redundancy.

The Osnabrück-based carmaker boasts a long tradition stretching back to the year 1901. The most famous model ever produced was the Karmann Ghia in the 1950s, a coupé version of the VW Beetle. Production of this vehicle, which achieved cult status around the globe, came to an end in the 1970s. Since 1949, Karmann have been manufacturing complete cars in small production runs, totalling 3.3 million units over the six decades.

With this particular Golf, it's not so much a question of the g-force that thrusts the driver back into his seat or the number of decibels that the exhaust can generate. The vital statistics that matter with the new Golf BlueMotion are as follows: 74mpg (3.8 litres per 100km) diesel and CO2 emissions of 99 g/km. This not only makes it the thriftiest Golf of all time but also takes it to the top of the class in terms of eco-friendliness. Obviously such superlatives come at a price, though the basic version at 21,650 euros will cost only around 1,000 euros more than the standard TDI.

The extra money buys you such BlueMotion features as 'recuperation' (kinetic energy recovery from the brakes), a start-stop system, tyres that have been optimised for rolling resistance and aerodynamically streamlined bodywork. These additional specifications get the 1.6L TDI engine down below the magic consumption and emission thresholds of four litres per 100 km and 100 grams per km. Furthermore, the five-speed gearbox has been given a longer power transmission and you have the option of allowing the onboard computer to recommend gear shifts. According to VW, series production is due to commence in early November. The first vehicles should arrive in the showrooms around the middle of the month.

How time flies. The new Beetle has been around since 1998. In 2012, some fourteen years after its introduction, Volkswagen will build a mark two version of the modern Beetle. Rumour has it that this new Beetle has grown just a little. Rear, back seat and boot will afford more room. Furthermore, it will be marketed at a competitive price, which should help VW to return to its roots, building cars which almost everyone can afford.

The fifth generation of the Polo has proved so popular that it is crowding out the small car market. Its two major competitors, the Opel Corsa and the Ford Fiesta, have also had recent makeovers, but they are going to have a tough time against this rising star. Because this 'miniature Golf' makes all the merits of its bigger brother available to the purchaser on a reduced budget. In terms of design, it may not be quite as thrilling, but it is just as timeless; the quality of finishing is as good as anything in the pricier mid-range; they have at last come up with decent safety specification and are offering a choice of no fewer than half a dozen engines. Plus it is a bit roomier this time round.

This latest reincarnation has spread out in two of three dimensions without having got any heavier. On the contrary, those clever carmakers in Wolfsburg have managed to improve the crash structure whilst trimming up to 7.5 percent off the overall weight. Lengthwise, the newcomer has grown by four centimetres, but still stays 5cm within the four-metre mark. And it has got wider too. Three extra centimetres of track width not only make it more stable on the road but also improve the overall looks and give everyone inside just a little more elbow room. In the third dimension – headroom – it has shrunk ever so slightly.

With the new Polo, Volkswagen have brought a small car onto the market that has very little in common with the original (rather Spartan) model of the same name. Providing you can dispense with a couple of centimetres in length and a modicum of comfort, you are probably better off with a Polo than with big brother Golf – plus you are going to save a lot of money. The 1975 Polo was a makeshift solution adapted from the Audi 50. This infant came on by leaps and bounds, 10.6 million having since rolled off the production lines. After the Golf, the Polo stands on equal footing with the Passat as the third pillar of Volkswagen's success. This fifth edition is set to compete with the Golf (Europe's most popular car by sales volume) as never before. We present a historical record of how the VW compact has developed over the decades.

By 2013 at the latest, Volkswagen plan to bring a model onto the market with zero emissions at point of use. CEO Martin Winterkorn made this announcement as the Frankfurt Motor Show got underway. VW have lagged behind the rest in the move to embrace the electric car, but there are indications that things could now get lively on this front, with the E-Up! becoming VW's ecological standard bearer as the launch date of 2011 for their new small family car approaches.

The E-Up! is intended to show how an electrically powered urban runabout from VW might look. The vehicle has shrunk from its original design to 3.19 metres in length. Because VW have moved the front passenger seat relatively far forward, there is now room on that side of the car for two adults to travel in comfort. Rather like the iQ from Toyota, the E-Up! is best described as a 3+1-seater. The power is stored in a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 18 kilowatt hours – enough for an 80-mile journey (130 kilometres). VW claim a top speed for the prototype of 83mph (135 km/h).

Autoblog's Will Powell reports from the Frankfurt Motor Show

This is the L1, a two-seat roadster concept and the latest super-low CO2 car from Volkswagen. The German giant is determined to bring this idea to the market in some form by 2013, although its likely to have four seats and a coupe like body eventually.

But this concept model will return a staggering 189mpg and has CO2 emissions of just 39g/km.

It's as low as a Lamborghini but only as long as a Fiat 500, and is powered by an 800cc two stroke diesel engine with just 29bhp. The proportions and styling make it incredibly aerodynamic (drag coefficient is just 0.195) and very light (a teeny 350kg).

The modest engine is paired with an electric motor that kicks in to boost torque when harder acceleration is needed. That means the L1 can reach a claimed top speed of 99mph and manage 0-62mph in 14.3 seconds.

"The whole project is being pitched as a possible production car for around 2013," said a VW communications man.

In the past a project like this would have been impossible to bring to production. But Volkswagen's head of concept cars told us that advances carbon fibre construction techniques (a material that is not only very strong but lightweight) has made the potential manufacturing process much more cost effective for mass production. We wouldn't be surprised to see a version of the L1 breaking all economy records in 2013.

The cost of the Mazda3 MPS is fractionally less than that of the four-door Golf GTI and so they are almost in the same price bracket. But with the MPS you get an additional 50 BHP and three years warranty for the first 100,000 km/60,000 miles. Workmanship and reliability are good without question. Other plus points are: the short list of reasonably priced options and a roomy cabin. The GTI may win you over with additional technical features such as DSG, a Direct Shift Gearbox and has a better image, as is well-known. But whether these features help the Golf to stay out in front of the MPS on the track is another thing.