WHY THIS CAR MATTERS TO VW

Driving the prototype Up GTI last year, it wasn’t just the dynamics and engine output that made a positive impression, but also the obvious pride of the engineers who’d developed the car, from VW R&D chief Franck Welsch down.

Over the past 18 months, with the focus on Dieselgate and a leadership embattled by the fallout, it has been easy to forget that the VW Group employs about 600,000 people around the world who had nothing to do with the scandal, and many of them do the job they do because they have a passion for it.

Out in South Africa, free of political distractions and where the sole purpose of their being there was to make the cars better, the development team was in its element, eager to share their successes and keen to show off their work.

Based on my drive, cars like the Up GTI have the capability of putting the spotlight on what matters for VW — the product — and reminding people what made the company great in the first place.