The first prototypes of the Volkswagen Up! minicar have arrived in Death Valley California today. Although they're draped in some pretty heavy camouflage, it's clear that the production Up! will be very similar to the concept. Our keen-eyed spy photographers pointed out that while these two prototypes appear to be very similar, the one with its grille closed off could actually be the all-electric E-Up! model.

Volkswagen has already announced that it is preparing to start production of the Up! next year at its plant in Slovakia. The lineup will include this two-door coupe as well as the larger Space Up! and Space Up! Blue, both of which were unveiled as concepts several years ago.

At the moment, plans for sales in the U.S. are tentative. Volkswagen is weighing its desire for a higher overall sales in the U.S. with the fact that cars of this stature typically aren't all that popular in America. Expect to see the final production version of the Up! coupe soon as sales in European are expected to start less than a year from now.

We will be keeping our eyes peeled for more spy shots of the VW prototypes as they go through their hot weather testing. For now, have a look at these initial spy shots below (Click for full size).



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