VW City Expert: New people's car platform will be rear-wheel drive!

While it's no news that VW will show a new platform for a real people's car, the news here is that it now has a (project) name: VW City Expert. Another noteworthy news is that it will be rear-wheel drive!

Whilst the City Expert will now have a water-cooled engine as opposed to air, it is closer in concept to the original Beetle than the modern namesake could ever hope to be.

VW’s car will cost around £3500 in developing markets, whilst Europe's version will cost around £5000. The City Expert is claimed to be ‘sensationally flexible’ because it will be available in three different bodystyles for varying markets. We’ll have a three-door hatch, India a five-door, and China will get a four-door saloon.

Although the engine is in the back, and steeply angled for more boot room, the battery, air-con unit and radiator are in the nose: both ends have a luggage compartment. Power steering isn’t expected to be available – it’s not needed due to the lack of weight over the front wheels – but ESP should be standard in Europe. Such simplicity should cut the build time of the car to an industry-leading 12 hours.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, P4MR, VW City Expert

Source: Car Magazine

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