After years of Up! city-car concepts, Volkswagen has revealed a new production 2012 VW Up. And the vehicle it formally unveiled, at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show, will be on sale in Europe early next year.

During its various concept iterations, the Up went from a rear-engine layout to a more conventional front-engine, front-wheel-drive small-car layout, and it's now slated as the replacement for the Lupo lineup--perhaps even adopting the Lupo name in production.

The production 2012 Volkswagen Up is not slated for the U.S. market, but the little 11.6-foot-long minicar is longer than the Mini Cooper and gets an impressive 56 mpg in the European cycle from its three-cylinder engine.

And to complement the Up production model, VW also displayed several other specialized versions of the Up, including the E Up (electric), Eco Up (natural gas), GT Up, Cross Up, and Up Azzurra. While most of those are readily apparent, the latter has mahogany paneling and chrome trim, and is supposedly inspired by a Mediterranean Yacht.

Stay tuned for more information on all the Up variants, and in the mean time, browse through the gallery below for some live shots, straight from the floor of the Frankfurt show.

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