Volkswagen Virtus production begins

Volkswagen India has announced that the production of the Virtus has started at its Chakan plant near Pune, Maharashtra. Like the Slavia replaced the Skoda Rapid from the line-up, the all-new Virtus will replace the Vento from the VW model line-up. Volkswagen is yet to reveal the date of the price announcement of the new car.

The Volkswagen Virtus will be the second product from the manufacturer after the Taigun. VW says that there is up to 95% localisation on the new Virtus.

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Commenting on the announcement, Piyush Arora, Managing Director, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. said,

“With the start of production of the New Virtus at our Chakan facility in Pune, we have successfully completed our commitment of launching two new products under the India 2.0 project based on the MQB A0 IN platform for the market under Volkswagen Brand. The development of the carline is a joint effort of our global and Indian teams who have worked dedicatedly towards retaining the global manufacturing standards of the brand while maintaining localization levels of up to 95%. The collaboration has positively resulted in the striking, exhilarating and German-engineered New Virtus that will redefine the premium midsize sedan segment in India.”

Like the Skoda Kushaq and Taigun, the Slavia and the Virtus will share a lot of parts between them. However, the Virtus is longer than the Slavia by 20mm. There are significant changes in the front-end to differentiate between both cars.

VW Virtus to offer two engine options

Volkswagen will offer two engine options with the Virtus. These are the exact same engines available with the Skoda Slavia, VW Taigun and the Skoda Kushaq. The 1.0-litre TSI engine generates a maximum power of 115 PS and a peak torque of 178 Nm. VW offers a six-speed manual and a six-speed automatic transmission with this engine option.

The more powerful 1.5-litre TSI engine will be available with the GT variants of the car. It generates a maximum power of 150 PS and a peak torque of 250 Nm. The more powerful 1.5-litre TSI will be available only with a seven-speed DCT.

The dashboard of the new Volkswagen Virtus dashboard looks quite classy and sporty. It gets a sharp-edged instrument binnacle that houses the 7-inch fully digital instrument cluster. The GT variants get highlights of contrasting red stitches all over the upholstery.

VW will offer a long list of features with the Virtus including all-LED headlamps, an eight-speaker system, single-pane sunroof, climate control system, automatic headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, ventilated seats, push-button start, 60:40 split seats with the GT, cooled glove box and more.

The new Virtus will also come with stability control, hill-hold, tyre deflation warning, electronic differential lock, multi-collision braking and even six airbags with the top-end variants.

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