Will the Volkswagen's up! and space up! be 21st century motoring icons?

Volkswagen has been behind some of the most iconic vehicles of the late 20th century. The VW Beetle smashed previous sales figures right, left and centre, proving to be an incredibly successful model that has certainly gained a huge cult following. There is even a "Drive your Beetle to Work Day" (which is the 22nd June, if you were interested, as it commemorates the date Volkswagen gave the go-ahead to make up plans for the earliest Bug).

Although European production of the original VW Beetle was finally ended in 1978, twenty years later it became apparent that we just can't live without this iconic car on our roads. Volkswagen realised that there was still this huge market for it and launched the New Beetle, a model which was stylistically close to the original. It has been a successful move for the manufacturer, proving that this design has a timeless appeal which makes it a genius of design.

However, amazingly it is not the Beetle which has been Volkswagen's most successful model. This honour goes to the Golf, with March 2007 marking the tremendous achievement of 25 million units sold. It has undergone lots of updates and changes over the years but without losing the essence of what has made it such a successful model; its power, good drive and decent cabin quality. Like the Beetle, the Golf also has a following, with such clubs as the MK1 Golf Owners' Club and Club GTi.

Considering the success of these models, along with the long-standing Polo and Passat, Volkswagen has clearly learnt the knack of producing cars which catch - and retain - the interest of motorists. This isn't an easy trick to do and many manufacturers never achieve the success which Volkswagen has been able to enjoy with so many of its models.

So with such an exciting past in car manufacture, Volkswagen must have similar plans for the future. We ask whether the recently-revealed up! and space up! concept cars could reach the status of the Golf and the Beetle and become the icons of the early 21st century. VW has revealed that these cars are more than concepts, and are likely to manufacture before the end of the decade, which is a good start.

The up! has looks which could almost rival the Beetle for cuteness - but not quite. The side windows have a pretty funky shape, but some may not like the very flat nose of the bonnet. Anyhow, this car isn't really about looks. It is about diminutive proportions, versatility and economy, all of which Volkswagen have really got right.

It is truly a tiny supermini, but not so tiny that it can't take four adults. However, if it isn't people that you want to carry, the pop-out passenger seats mean that you can create a load of space for your shopping/luggage/furniture. Handy, as long as you remember to do so before you leave on your journey. Its small size means that a 1.2 engine will be more than enough to power it, so future up! owners will probably be able to get a great deal on Volkswagen car insurance, as well as cheap fuel bills. It has even been suggested that the basic up! could cost as little as £5,000.

Whilst the up! is strictly in the supermini category, the space up! is a little bit, well, more spacious and is classed as a small family car. However, it still measures as being smaller than the Fox, the current baby of the Volkswagen range. With a bunch of clever design features, such as removable panel in the front passenger footwell to accommodate larger items from the frontal boot, you'd never guess though.

Side-hinging rear doors offer excellent access for the two rear passengers, whilst the seats can be folded up or taken out altogether, again offering versatile space. Drivers of the space up! can keep an eye on their CO2 emissions too, thanks to a natty toughscreen panel on the dashboard, and fuel economy should be pretty good thanks to the size of the space up!.

Well, only time will tell whether the up! and the space up! will offer that certain something which has made other VWs into icons of the motoring world. However, even if these are more short-lived models than the Golf and the Beetle, they are a very welcome extension to the small car end of the Volkswagen range.

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