Bigger, better, stronger – 2018 Vento will fight City, Ciaz and Verna

A few months back, VW unveiled the all-new Polo hatchback. In India, we not only have the Polo hatch, but also have the Ameo compact sedan and the Vento, both of which are sedans that are based on the Polo. Since the Polo has gotten such a massive update, the Vento (Polo sedan) will also be getting a similar update. Here is a render of what it would look like, if they took forward the Polo design them and integrated it with a boot.

The new Polo is very striking to look at, something that the Polo sedan will follow as well. It will get the LED headlamps and will most likely get LED tail lamps as well. Currently, the company is looking to introduce it in the Brazilian and Russian market and it will most likely make its way to India post that.

The Vento will be underpinned by the MQB A0 platform, which underpins the new Polo as well as other vehicles from the group. It could be possible that the company decides to bring in the Vento update before the Polo update. Currently, the all-new Polo which is based on the MQB platform has a length of just above 4-meters, which is a problem based on the excise norms. The Vento on the other hand has no such issue. Since the Polo, Vento and Rapid are built on the same production line, shifting to the MQB A0 platform means that all these products will be shifted to the new platform as well, something that will allow for more products to come to the Indian market.

Under the hood, the company will most likely continue with the same 1.5 liter turbo-diesel engine and could also bring in the 1.4 liter TSI unit, which is currently on offer in export markets. For the international model, the vehicle will be either getting a 1.0 liter TSI or a 1.4 liter TSI. VW is already testing the 1.0 liter Bluemotion engine for the Indian market.

On the inside is where the most change has occurred in the Polo and we expect the same changes on the Vento as well. The car has a new funky dashboard with a touchscreen system which looks like it has been integrated to the whole instrument cluster. This not only makes the dashboard look uncluttered, it also makes it look premium and luxurious. We expect Apple Car play and Android Auto to be offered. While the new Polo will get a virtual cockpit, we don’t see that coming to the Indian version on either the Polo or the Vento.

According to reports, the new vehicle will have a 10 cm longer wheelbase than the outgoing model, which will result in a lot more room inside the cabin. This will make it a better rival to the City, the Ciaz, and the soon to be launched Verna.

The Vento is expected to make its global debut either by the end of 2017 or by early 2018. For the Indian market, we are looking at end 2018 for this at the earliest.

Image source: 1, 2