Volkswagen Up! GTi version on the way, as is more range for the electric VW e-Up

A VW Up! GTi is joining the Up! range

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The Volkswagen Up GTi is on the way to add some fizz to VW’s City Car, and VW are planning to improve the range of the electric e-Up too.

The Volkswagen Up! City Car arrived in the UK back in 2012 (with a bit of a titivate last year) and, together with its SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo siblings, has turned in to a very good City Car for VW, with annual combined sales getting on for 230,000 cars a year.

That may be relatively small beer for VW, but it’s enough to keep VW interested in expanding the Up! range and bringing more buyers in to what really is a very good urban runaround.

So VW are planning to inject a bit of fizz in to the Up! range with a new Up! GTi, according to VW Brand CEO Herbert Diess, but it’s not really going to be a snarling little riot.

As fare as we know, VW are planning to give the Up GTi a three-cylinder petrol with, by GTi standards, a paltry 114bhp.

That said, the Up! GTi should be a fun little car, and you can bet it will come with some subtle body mods, bigger alloys, red stitching, tartan trim and a stripe or three to make it look the part. Expect the Up! GTi to arrive in 2018.

VW are also planning to make the electric e-Up a bit more appealing than it is, with plans to address its woeful real world range of about 70 miles. Which is a very good idea.

But what would be a better idea is to do something about the truly silly £25k price.