Tokyo motor show - Volkswagen Space Up!

VW wheeled out a bigger, more practical version of its clever Up! concept car from Frankfurt at the Tokyo motor show.

The Space Up! is a four-door (six-door if you count the vertically split glass tailgate) addition to the promised family of super-efficient, environmentally friendly urban cars.

But while the Up! was primarily targeted at European owners, the taller, longer and squarer Space Up! aims to meet the needs of Far Eastern drivers brought up on a diet of size-regulated Japanese K-class cars (a strict maximum width and engine capacity) and other boxy, practical minis.

The two doors on each side of the car open in opposite directions, the front pair swinging forwards, while the rears go backwards, to give maximum access in the least possible space.

'The aim was to give maximum space in an unobtrusive exterior that is simple, flexible and easy to use,' said Walter da Silva, VW's design chief. 'This is the true legacy of the original VW Beetle.'

Like the Beetle, the Up! family will have a rear-mounted engine (beneath the rear seats) driving the rear wheels.

It was suggested that two- and three-cylinder diesels, giving at least 90mpg and emitting less than 100g/km of CO2, might power the production version of the Up! in a couple of years or so, but VW is now saying that all-electric versions could also be possible.