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Volkswagen has confirmed that it will be showing a new rear-engined city car at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
The new car, dubbed City Expert, will use a flat four 'boxer' engine, and it'll be just where the Beetle's air-cooled mill was – at the back.
Few details are available, but it's thought that the City Expert is VW's attempt to make a budget car for new markets. It would, however, also be available in Western Europe.
The new car would slot below the Brazilian-built Fox in Volkswagen's line-up. Crucially, it would be more flexible, with the possibility of three-door, five-door and four-door saloon variants, and two- or three-cylinder engines.
If Volkswagen can also make the new car stylish, it will be on to a winner; there's an expanding market for cheap, frugal cars among fashion- and environmentally-conscious city dwellers.
VW's not the only firm to be exploring the possibility of smaller, cheaper cars; BMW is considering a new microcar, and Inidan firm Tata is attempting to develop a £1500 'Lakh' car.
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