“Volkswagen’s latest
  City Car has got the
  competition ‘foxed’ —
  particularly in the price
  stakes. Meet the
  1.2-litre Urban Fox...”

VOLKSWAGEN'S LATEST budget-priced competitor in the City Car sector of the UK's new car market is the all-new Fox. Replacing the Lupo in
the VW range, it brings stiff competition to this price-sensitive sector. The likes of the Peugeot 107, Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1 and Fiat Panda, plus others from Japan, Korea and Malaysia, all compete for sales in this hard-fought market slot. But the new Fox has them all beaten.

So what exactly is it that the Fox brings to the market? Well, for a start, virtually all City Cars are really too small in real-life use. They may be well equipped to accommodate downsizing customers and they may be easier to park; but it's all at the expense of practical seating, versatility for load carrying and overall performance.

I find once a City Car is out of its town environment it's more often than not unstable on the open roads — in particular on motorways, where it struggles for cruising performance. Faster moving lorries pick them up in their slipstream and make for a less than pleasant and not very safe ride.

The Volkswagen Fox, being both bigger and more substantial, resists this: yet it only costs the same price, or less, than the mainstream competition.

In fact, the Fox comes at bargain prices — from £6,590. It has loads of space, is longer than the Lupo and a bit shorter than the Polo; has a practical three-door layout, feels strong and well made, is cheap to run and, what's more, it carries the assuredly desirable VW badge on its nose.

The Fox also has one major point of difference over its fellow VW stablemates. It is built in Brazil, not Germany, which means it can be priced aggressively due to the lower production costs.

In addition to being substantially larger and considerably cheaper than the Lupo it replaces, the entry level Fox also has a more powerful engine: a three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol unit. There is also a 1.4-litre
4-cylinder engine [click here to read MotorBar's review]. There are two levels of specification for both engine sizes: Fox and Urban Fox. All models have a five-speed manual transmission.

The anticipated best-selling model will be the VW Fox 1.2 Urban, priced at just £7,190. The larger engine choice will add £805 to that but even so the top of the range version at £7,995 is still a bargain.

My test car was the 1.2 Urban Fox model, to which the only option I might add would be air conditioning. Unfortunately that would cost an extra £945, so unless I could negotiate with the dealer I might forgo that pleasure. The Fox may be cheap, but the wide range of desirable options can make it expensive. So buy wisely.

However, that's not to say the Urban Fox's standard specification is lacking because it is really very good. It has anti-lock braking, remote central locking with immobiliser, driver and front passenger airbags, a height adjustable driver's seat, a height and reach adjustable steering wheel, rear head restraints, four three-point seat belts, two rear Isofix child seat points, front electric windows, a radio/CD player with six speakers, a sliding rear bench seat with a 50/50 split rear backrest and body-coloured bumpers.

Being a budget car, first time buyers in particular will be attracted to the Fox's low cost of ownership. Service intervals are 12 months or 10,000 miles; the warranty cover is 3-years/60,000 miles; and the insurance group rating is a low 1E. Better still, CO2 emissions are 146 g/km so it's only £100 for the road fund licence. Plus fuel economy is likewise good. You should expect around 46mpg, which is exactly what my test car returned over a full week's motoring.

Clearly, the VW Fox is a serious contender for sales on size, strength, quality and value.

Visually it is no masterpiece and one has to say that there are prettier cars in this sector. However, wearing the VW badge does give it brand appeal. The handling is good, and safe enough, and the suspension irons out the bumps much better than most City Cars. You also have the benefit of above average headroom.

The height of the Fox's bodyshell does produce some roll during cornering but the handling is definitely safe, although the car does suffer from some understeer. Wider tyres would probably provide
more cornering grip.

The only letdown for the interior is the hard and relatively cheap looking plastic dashboard. Overall, roominess is the major plus point, and the wide tailgate opening makes loading the car really easy.

The three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engine is a willing worker and because it has a balancer shaft it is relatively smooth. The 55bhp power output and 80lb ft of torque makes the car feel better than the paper performance figures might suggest. But then customers buying
a Fox are not expecting a tyre-shredding hot-hatch. For the record, top speed is 92mph and the 0-62mph dash takes 17.5 seconds. In practise it feels less and I honestly had no trouble overtaking traffic on A-roads or cruising at the legal maximum speed on motorways, unlike many of the other City Cars I've tried this year.

All-in-all this Fox is a really impressive package and one I have already recommended to potential customers. It comes at an excellent price, is well built, roomy and practical. It drives like a bigger and more expensive car but has low running costs.

And it is easily affordable too, thanks to Volkswagen's accompanying 'easy to buy' Solutions package that comes with free servicing included for three years or 30,000 miles. The offer runs until the end of September 2006. To give you an example of the Solutions package, with a deposit of £1,561 you would pay £89 per month for 35 months; or you could choose to make a £135 deposit followed by £135 per month for 35 months. I'm usually sceptical about dealer or manu-facturer finance plans, but in this case I reckon it's a smart way to get a very nice new car. — David Miles

Volkswagen Fox 1.2 Urban | £7,190 Maximum speed: 92mph | 0-62mph: 17.5 seconds Test MPG: 46.3mpg | Power: 55bhp | Torque: 80lb ft