Volkswagen India planning entry-level hatchback, compact sedan & SUV

An entry-level hatchback to be positioned under the Polo, a compact sedan based on the Vento’s PQ25 platform and a compact SUV likely to be based on the MQB platform are the three cars that Volkswagen India is considering for the Indian car market. An official announcement about these products will come by the end of this year.

Of these products, the compact sedan based on the Vento will be the first to hit the Indian car market. The Vento based compact car will be Volkswagen’s maiden offering in India’s sub-4 meter sedan segment, a sector that plays host to the lion’s share of sedan sales in the country, with monthly sales hovering near the 40,000 units mark.

CarToq sources indicate that Volkswagen India has already begun sourcing parts for the Vento based compact sedan, which is expected to be launched here next year. The Vento compact sedan will roll out from Volkswagen India’s Chakan manufacturing facility and will feature both petrol and turbo diesel engine options.

The 1.2 liter TSI turbo petrol and 1.5 liter TDI turbo diesel engines are likely to power the new Volkswagen car, which will be specifically tailored to meet Indian car market requirements.   In terms of price and market positioning, the Vento based compact sedan is expected to sit between the Polo B+ segment hatchback the Vento C-Segment sedan.

The entry level hatchback that Volkswagen is said to be considering for India could be based on the new, low cost sub brand that the German automaker will debut in China next year. The new hatchback is likely to sit below the Polo and help drive volumes for Volkswagen India, and help the automaker achieve its revised market share target of 7-8 % by 2020, which incidentally is a downward revision from the previously projected 20 %.

The compact SUV segment in India has been eyed by Volkswagen for quite a while and an offering in this segment will arrive no sooner than 2016-17. The MQB platform, which will host the next-generation Polo hatchback, is expected to be the base of the new compact SUV as well. At the moment, other details of the Volkswagen compact SUV remain sketchy at best.

In the near term, Volkswagen plans to invest 1,500 crore rupees to shore up localization levels of the mass market cars it sells in India. Shortly, the automaker is expected to set up an engine and transmission manufacturing factory in India. Doing so will bump up localization levels on two of Volkswagen’s largest selling cars in India – the Polo and the Vento – to 90 %, while also cutting down maintenance costs.

Via TimesOfIndia