Volkswagen may have to call upon its Skoda subsidiary to manufacture its forthcoming production up! minicar, which many are predicting will be the next-generation Lupo compact. This way VW will be able to take advantage of Skoda’s low-cost production facilities in Vrchlabi and Pamplona to help give it the advantage over Toyota’s new iQ minicar rival.

The information comes from Skoda manufacturing and logistics manager Horst Mühl, who told reporters from Automotive News Europe that officials are planning to build up to 250,000 up! cars annually. This number is expected to be boosted once new sites in Russia and India also come on line, Mühl revealed.

A final decision is expected to be made within the next three months, although Mühl claims the Spanish site of Pamplona will be the most likely option. Differnet versions of the up! will be sold under VW, Skoda and Seat and eventually production numbers are expected to tip half a million cars annually.

Some of the other variants of the car include a four-door MPV, a possible cabrio and offroad SUV and even an all-electric model. Click here to read all the details in our previous story.

VW up! variants

Volkswagen Lupo minicar family renderings