It’s only been a year since the Giugiaro penned Proton EMAS concept made its world debut, but much have changed since then.
At Geneva 2010, Italdesign Giugiaro revealed the EMAS for Proton, but two months later Volkswagen bought a majority stake in the famed design house, which includes its brand name, rights and patents.
At Geneva 2011, Giugiaro will make its debut as a VW Group brand, and will show off this Go! concept for Volkswagen. It looks a lot like the EMAS. In fact, Giugiaro refers to the Go! MPV as an evolution of the EMAS. Here’s what the design legend himself has to say:
“With this exercise I wanted to continue the design of a car able to offer maximum utilisation of its interior. The project started with the 1976 New York Taxi, and continued with the 1978 Megagamma, the 1998 Structura and then came to maturity with the 2010 Emas. The Go! is less than four metres long, but offers more passenger room than that of a large SUV and has a 400 up to 525-litre boot, ideal for city use,” Giorgetto Giugiaro explained.
It’s not a “rebadged” EMAS, as the Go! is a larger version of the max interior space-small footprint concept. The VW is 3,990 mm long (EMAS is 3,555 mm), while its wheelbase is 2,700 mm long, about 110 mm longer than the EMAS’. That’s a Passat wheelbase in a sub-4m car, which is pretty impressive.
The driver and three passengers sit on four identical and electronically adjustable seats. Its designers claim that the Go! has more interior room than a full size SUV.
Like in the EMAS, only the lower part of the windows can be electrically lowered. This solution reduces the weight that the electric window mechanism has to support, and is good enough for toll payment. But while the EMAS has conventional doors, the Go! has an electronically driven system that pushes the rear doors outwards and pulls it back parallel to the vehicle body. We’ve seen this before on VW’s Milano Taxi concept, although that one goes forward, not back.
The Go! sits on the VW Group’s MQB (Modularer Quer-Baukasten) modular transverse architecture. It is powered by VW’s electrical Blue-e-motion system that allows for 240 km in the combined cycle without emitting a single gram of CO2.
The appearance of the Go! and its similarities with the EMAS raises some questions. Who owns the design and ideas behind the EMAS? Is it Proton or VW via Giugiaro?
Gallery after the jump.
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AI-generated Summary ✨
Comments express disappointment that VW's acquisition of Giugiaro has impacted Proton negatively, with some lamenting the loss of original Proton designs and potential. Many feel Proton should establish its own design language and improve consistency, criticizing current models for lack of strength and balance. There is skepticism about Proton’s ability to produce competitive, attractive cars, and concern that VW's ownership might prevent Proton from creating unique designs. Some comments playfully suggest Proton should buy VW instead or joke about the design similarities. Overall, sentiments lean toward frustration over the perceived design loss and missed opportunities due to VW's influence, with hope that Proton can still succeed through talent and in-house development.