Volkswagen had a rough 2019 to sayt least. Apart from all the criticism they got globally for their diesel scandal, they didn’t have any sales figures to show in India. In fact, they faced criticism for relaunching an updated Polo and Vento in the country on account of the fact that they are no more concerned with the Indian market. And trust me, this shows in their sales figures.
Now though, it seems like that will change as they have quite some plans of coming back stronger in 2020. The company released the teaser for not one but, four brand new SUVs which will be present at the biennial automotive show i.e. Delhi Auto Expo 2020.
However, that’s not all! There’s a rumour that the company plans to present the new gen Vento as well. In fact, there’s a possibility that Volkswagen will unveil the new-gen Vento a.k.a. The Virtus Sedan in India at the Auto Expo scheduled for next month.
In 2017, the very same model was launched in Brazil. However, the launch never made it to India and we dont know why. Since, then the company has been working on a revised plan for their India project, Project 2.0. This has ensured that the launch of the new-gen Vento is back on track!
Even though Volkswagen plans to showcase the Virtus at the Auto Expo, it won’t be launched in India until another year at least. While this showcased model is already on the streets of Brazil, within another year Brazil will have the upgraded version of the model and it is assumed that India will receive the upgraded model as well and not the model which will be showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo.
The way the Vento is the sedan version of the 5th-gen PQ25 Polo that is present in the Indian market, similarly, the sedan version of the sixth-gen MQB A0 Polo Hatchback is the Volkswagen Virtus. The Indian market had been waiting patiently and eagerly for the launch of this model.
Since Volkswagen plans to launch the Virtus in India, it is logical to assume that the 6th-gen Polo will be launched in the market as well. In fact, we believe that Volkswagen India will be launching the Polo first since they have already confirmed that the company is working on a MQB A0 IN platform which is specific to the Indian Market. This means that the length of the latest version of the Polo will be brought down to under four metres, which is different from its global counterpart.
The Virtus’s front-end styling is extremely similar to that of the latest generation Polo while the rear has similarities to the Arteon sedan which ranks above the Virtus in the company’s global portfolio.
The Volkswagen Virtus has two engine versions presently in the foreign markets. One model has a 1.6-litre NA petrol (5-speed auto) while the other has 1.0-litre turbo petrol (6-speed auto). Even though the 1.6-litre four cylinder is a unit which is great for 162Nm and 117bhp. On the other hand, the 1.0-litre turbo jumps the figures up to 200Nm of torque and 128bhp. It is expected that Volkswagen India will launch the latter with 1.0-litre unit and the diesel engine, as per the most-recent emission norms.
The Skoda Rapid’s next-gen will have similarities to the Volkswagen Virtus when it comes to the internal part of the model. Additionally, there have been reports that the entry-level Skoda will be a notchback (the boot lid and the rear windshield will be one unit). It has been modeled on the MQB A0 IN.
