New gearbox makes VW up! the automatic choice in the city

The award-winning Volkswagen up! now really is the automatic choice in the city car sector, thanks to the addition of a new automated manual gearbox (ASG) which is available to order now.
 
Costing just £595, the automatic gearbox is available on both three- and five-door Move up! and High up! models (excluding BlueMotion Technology versions).  As well as being cost-effective, the new five-speed ASG gearbox is extremely efficient, with improved fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions when compared with its manual counterpart.
 
The ASG is an automated version of the five-speed manual gearbox in the up!.  The driver simply uses the gear lever to select D (Drive), N (Neutral) or R (Reverse) (there is no P (Park)) and the gearbox switches to the optimum gear for the situation.  The gear shift points have been calculated to help achieve maximum fuel efficiency, depending on road profile and throttle position.  The driver can also change up or down manually using the gear lever.  Steering wheel paddle shift is not available on the up!.
 
The new gearbox is space-efficient, with the activation systems taking up a minimum of room, and has also been optimised to be as light as possible: at around 30 kg, it weighs just three kilograms more than the manual version.  Two electromechanical actuators are positioned directly on the gearbox, and control the gate selection and engage or disengage the gears.  A further electric motor is used to control the clutch.
 
The simplicity of the ASG gearbox makes it more efficient than a torque-converter automatic gearbox, while the lower costs make it more appropriate for a great value city car than Volkswagen’s sophisticated DSG gearbox.
 
The up! with ASG is available to order now, with deliveries to customers expected to start in October.  A fully electric version of the up! will join the range in late 2013.