Volkswagen Polo in India Archives

October 10, 2015

Delivery of Polo Stopped by Volkswagen India with Immediate Effect

It appears that things are going from bad to worse for Volkswagen. After the debacle on the emission software front, the company has stopped delivery of all models of the Polo in India citing ‘technical reasons’. The automaker has asked for stopping delivery with immediate effect and it is limited to a certain number of cars which belong to a particular production period.

As per the Volkswagen management, it has put deliveries on a temporary hold due to technical reasons and is presently evaluating the same. The delivery for those cars which are not affected by this will go on as per schedule. The company has also made it abundantly clear that it has nothing to do with the emission scandal that has rocked it presently.

The company though is yet to make it clear what exactly the technical issue is and which cars will be stopped from deliveries. The production period of cars to be affected is yet to be disclosed by the company and we can await more details on it soon.

Volkswagen was recently embroiled in an emissions scandal and has said that as many as 11 million of its vehicles may have been affected by it. The diesel engines are likely to be most affected by it and this includes those that presently power the Polo, Vento as well as the Skoda Rapid here in India. Volkswagen though is yet to provide clarity on the ongoing situation.

September 17, 2013

Volkswagen Polo facelift spy shots appeared

‘Volkswagen Polo facelift’ is the new mantra to be chanted by German lovers in coming times.

Hatchback Polo had given the Volkswagen a lot of application to apply on, but finally after doing this much of tramline job for the brand, it now went for a makeover in the backyard of Germans. And from there the spies in industry had pounced upon these sorts of spy-shots for straightly hitting the table of hot-news.

Hence, it seems only the front is going to witness the change during facelift, meanwhile the rear and sides are tending to remain the same as of what they are now.

The spotted test-mule of Polo is a “GT” version. In return we can expect the German to tweak its drivetrain as well.

Hence, Germans were seen testing the facelifted Polo in the Death Valley of USA. The hot and dry condition there may be proving the engineers to dwell their vehicles for formulating it rightly against the weather condition of various countries.

Overall, the cues from these images is reclining us that Polo facelift will bear new bumpers, refreshed head lights, and new front grille to mark the prominence in the segment. Some reports of industry had concluded that, interiors too will see a makeover. Dashboard, infotainment system and some assistance guidance will be there on the new budge of the car.

Image Courtesy: Autoevolution

July 26, 2013

Volkswagen Polo GT TDI spied inside out

Made a remarkable presence with the launch of Polo GT TSI in India, Volkswagen is aspirated a lot to take on the class of fuel conscious consumers to taste the sports blood of German, that also without shelling out huge bonks from their pocket. Answer to them is the new ‘Polo GT’ in ‘TDI’ avatar, means diesel engine to be there in its bay.

The spied images that are posted here in this blog are taken by Team BHP and are posing the car inside out.

Firstly, those who were saying the upcoming Polo is going to have DSG gearbox, their expectation is now trashed and in the spy shots a manual one is found to be assimilated with the engine. As the Volkswagen had the 1.6L TDI engine in India for oil burners, this new car may dwell the government’s favorite 1.5L TDI which will be aspired with turbocharger and would give the outputs same to that of the elder sibling. It will help the carmaker to save a lot of tax-chunk under the criteria of government’s import policy of small engines. There will be 15” Estrada wheels and rear spoiler too lugging it around like that of GT TSI. Interiors are done with ‘black and beige’ combination where leather upholstery may also be sprouted as an option in the list.

Some of the market experts says the same sort of engine and cosmetics and may also be applied in the Cross Polo too, which we hope the engine maybe re-tuned to derive an aggressive specification in the output than the GT version.

Launch of Polo GT TDI is expected to happen by upcoming festive season, while the Cross Polo may follow it any time soon in the near future.

Image Courtesy: Team BHP.

May 9, 2013

Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT Test Drive, Review

The ongoing time is now demanding automatics hatchbacks in the showroom, moreover the young professionals and ladies are its key buyer rather than someone from past generation-office going uncle or so. Keeping only these things in mind carmakers are rolling out automatic version of their hatchbacks model plate, which we think is not going on the masses’ shoulders but is showing sufficient output against the input wobbled in towards the targeted class. Volkswagen is an up market brand in India and assuming it to be deprived from the catchy trend, is not catering its automotive veins and hence we got a chance to drive the newly launched Polo “GT” with only 1.2 TSI petrol motor.

Well, this one is not a complete GT in the sense which one maybe thinking of in the particular aura but, let’s be clear the existing only Polo had been worked out to derive the GT derivations, so expectations should go that way itself. We are not marking some negative points on it right now, but making a segmentation understand in the proper manner gives in right amount of overall insight.

Engine and Performance:

The 1.2L TSI engine is officially said to yield 103bhp of peak power @ 5000 rpm and 17.8kgm of torque starting at 1500 RPM and staying comfortably till the meter clocks 4100 RPM, made us felt diving in again and again in the same bracket. Though we can say that additional 2.2kgm than the 1.6L Polo is impressive than the existing model range. Kicking the ignition in GT, one cannot feel the difference till 1500 RPM, because the turbo gets awaken after that particular figure, below the bespoken figure it feels a bit tad to drive. Once when the pointer crosses 1500 mark then the actual excitement starts pulling on drivetrain, that fun and frolic start gaining boost from the roost of metal, giving a shot of adrenaline at every action, but all this stays for 5000 RPM, above that the harshness starts pouring in. However, as said above the combination of direct injection and turbocharger doesn’t gives in that punch of GT badged car, making it to stand on the side of all GT monikered horizon. In spite of a smaller jag namely 1.2L TSI mid range proves quite peppy for the ride, but as an overall calculations, the makers could have done more in the sense of output, which nowadays diesel are yielding better than it. Taking the steps again to pavilion, VW’s motto behind the TSI strategy was to deliver the output of petrol engine but the efficiency should be stricken to that of diesel, hence the quite low powerful profile is maintained on the Polo GT. 17.2 kmpl is the official figure claimed by ARAI on the new Polo, lest the GT moniker on this hatchback is for India spec only, so there is no comparison of it at an international level.

Lest of the TSI talks, another important thing bestowed to this Volkswagen model plate is DSG dual clutch 7 speed gearbox, assimilated accurately with the 1197cc, 4 cylinder petrol motor, that drives all the forces from front wheel. Now shifting the concentration from powerplant to the ‘dual clutch’ intimation, the evidence of betterment is felt from straight line acceleration itself, made us to swoop from 0-60 km/h in just 4.9 seconds and 0-100 km/h in 11.27 seconds (not subjected to the standard test conditions), which had stood neck to neck with 1.6L Polo manual. Meanwhile, the acronym of straight line acceleration also hadn’t let our hair down, some cool flickering is registered on our notepad. Taking the highway cruise, it had proven fuel efficient and quick as well, given with the 6th and 7th as overdrive gears. If one really wants to put in efforts and churn out maximum then “Sport” shift will give him the longer gear holding ratios, and also keeping the stimulation tending above 2000 RPM only, not falling below than that. As aforementioned, the GT type of feeling seems lacking here on this board but if anyone out there is screaming to feel at least the belt of GT, then switch to manual mode, because the actual prowess type of feel can experienced in the par 6000 RPM which the derivation is better in manual shifting. The only thing we had found lacking here is the pedal shifters, if added then the excitement would have been raised by several notches. Though the Volkswagen had already fitted petrol engine and such expensive gearbox, so this particular further addition must have risen the cost aggressively. And for the safety, ABS and ESP are added as its standard fitment.

Handling the new Polo cannot be concluded to that of GT standard, suspensions and other bits had taken the charm of original segmentation and have added only the extra sportiness to it. But it wasn’t that worst when we rode the bumpy roads of city, suspension gobbled up potholes mildly letting only a small amount of force inside cabin, where the steering is light and direct. The drive felt understeered, yet can give in the right amount of prediction to drivers. Dual airbags and hill hold are also added for the extra money-value punch.

Exteriors:

Outers remained all same to the ongoing Polo, front grilles, tyres, nothing is changed to mark the remarkable note at a glance. Whereas, the chromed GT badging on front and the back, whilst of watermarked hologram on side are the only tweaks which this 1.2L TSI differ from its any of the other siblings. The hologram on side looks can be peeled of very easily unless and until any sort of coating is not provided to it.

Interiors:

Interiors had also remained pretty same, but there are some factors that had stretched comparison on the different platform but it is not so to be called a ‘distinct identity’. New seat fabrics, refreshed music system with bigger screen, aux, Bluetooth, SD card and USB connectivity whilst of the automatic climate control are the aura of freshness inside, nothing more than that remarkable, except some additional chrome bits here and there.

Conclusion:

Conclusion is straight forwardly can be seem from the attitude used in this post, very hopefully we were expecting something lot more on the GT bag but sadly that much of output is not delivered segment oriented (GT to be precise). Hence, the better refinement can be felt from that of the conventional 1.6L manual Polo, and on that basis it a better option, but not something to buy while taking GT into consideration. Getting back to the basics again, we have the mentioned in the first stanza itself, young professionals and ladies are the core buyers of petrol automatic and so this one is not an exception. Polo GT is good than any of the badgings in automatic hatchbacks horizon but not something very exclusive on the part of ‘Gran Tourismo’ peculiarities.

Ratings:

Priced at Rs. 7.99 lakh (ex showroom Delhi), the Polo is anytime better than the regular hatchback and its regular sibling conventional Polo too, but the GT moniker fails to fuel our aspirations not even till the belt of core.
5/10 is the perfect terminology for this VW bug.

Polo GT TSI Technical Specs

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Capacity

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Engine & Transmission

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Suspensions, Brakes, Steering & Tyres

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April 25, 2013

VW Polo Sedan in Malaysia all set to import CKD Kits from the Indian market

Volkswagen Polo Sedan or Vento, which we recognized in the Indian market, is presently being exported to other nations which include Malaysia.

A new report stated that the Polo sedan will be locally set up in the Malaysian market in the coming time.

The sedan is a costly affair for the Malaysian customers because of high import duties.

With the intention to turn it more budget, Volkswagen is ready to fabricate Polo sedan or Vento in the Malaysian market with CKD kits approaching from the company’s Pune based facility.

This will result in 215 fresh jobs in the firm’s parts and components division plus at suppliers.

At the moment, the Indian content in the Vento is around 70% whilst the engines and gear cases are being brought into the Indian market.

The VW Polo Sedan that got introduced in the Malaysian market as a CBU precisely a year back is valued at 99,888 Malaysian Ringgits (around Rs. 17.74 lakhs).

The Malaysia spec VW Polo Sedan is the top of the line petrol variant. The sedan is powered by the 1.6 litre 105 bhp petrol engine that is mated to a six speed automatic gear case. The common security traits such as ABS and airbags are presented as usual traits.

The local assembly would cut down the costs in a strong substantial way, and will go a long way in bettering the sale facts of the Polo Sedan that’s not selling like a hot cake in the Malaysian market.

December 5, 2012

Volkswagen Cross Polo coming to Indian market

Volkswagen has postponed its proposals to fabricate the Up! in the Indian market. And therefore, for the coming 2 year period, the auto manufacturer plans to attract the market here and pick up demand by rolling out variants of its subsisting and renowned vehicles comprising Polo and Vento.

The initial one in Volkswagen proposal is the hatchback off-roader named Cross Polo.

The said car, with its tough off-road equipment, surpasses any ordinary hatch in terms of appearances. Knowing the Indian client’s liking for off-roader forms, this design must bring triumph for the maker.

The all-terrain appearance seems hard-hitting enough to take on Himalayan mountain roads and the travel height has been heightened by approximately 15mm in addition.

A broad, dull plastic ring extends crosswise the chin, the wings and around the back. The wheel archways obtain the identical treatment. A silver diffuser at the back and big 17-inch wheels fill out the all-terrain appearance.

The said vehicle is expected to be the first beneficiary of the company’s made-for-India 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine.

September 30, 2012

Volkswagen to launch Polo 1.5 Diesel

It’s now confirmed that Volkswagen will soon be introducing a new 1.5 litre diesel engine in its Polo 2014 model. The speculation about the new diesel engine had started a year ago and is believed to be a downgraded version of the Vento’s 1.6 litre diesel mil.

The new is engine is said to have been specially developed for Indian road conditions, according to the Chief Product Advisor Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg. He also added that the new engine will be featuring different strokes and bore. The downsizing of the engine has involved development of several new components like rings, connecting rods and piston. The strict validation process has also consumed much of the two year development time.

Volkswagen is also hoping to assemble engine in India to reduce cost. Currently 1.6 litre engine is being imported from South Africa.

With the introduction of the new 1.5 litre diesel, Volkswagen is hoping to draw in more customers for Polo which is currently facing quite tough competition in premium hatchback market from i20 and Maruti Swift. The new engine with four-cylinder is expected to be more powerful than the current 1.2 litre 2 cylinder engine. Currently the engine is still in its developmental stage, so torque and power data have not yet been revealed.

September 22, 2012

VW unveils India-made 1st generation Polo sedan in Middle East

Middle East division of Volkswagen Group has launched the sedan edition of firm’s well known model Polo. The model featuresa number of comforts in addition to safety traits and occurs to be an engineering wonderin a cutthroat price label.

As per reports, the new model will alsopossess aninfluential engine that is bound to place innovative criteria in the sedan section of auto business.

The car is said to be fitted with a large number of security progressions, assuring full safety of its riders.

Characteristics such as Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), airbags for operator of a motor vehicle and front rider, central locking structure, keyless entry and modifiable 3 point security seat belts in both the rows are expected to be bundled within the model.

Parking distance control system will be an addition in the catalog of securitytraits fitted in the Polo sedan. In addition, the model will also boast an Electronic Immobilizer as a part of security progression.

Taking into consideration the technical backdrop of Polo sedan, the car is expected to possess a 1.6 litre engine that will mass-produce a maximum power of 103 bhp with a straighttorc. Incorporated with a six pacemechanicalgear case, the model appears to deliver at par recital that will set a benchmark in the automobile business.

The carlaunched in Middle East by the German auto manufacturer is being fabricated at the company’s Pune facility. This divisionis said to be the auto manufacturer’s special modern manufacturing facility in the nation thatlooks after all the procedures, comprising body and paint shop, press shop and congregation of models in addition. With this, it is thought that the model will shortlyhit Indianroads as the purchasers here have a liking for Volkswagen models.

August 27, 2012

Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012: Ameya bags the Race One of Round Three

Once again for the second week in a row, Ameya Walavalkar took the lead in JK Tyre Volkswagen Polo R Cup 2012 which just finished its first race of the third round at Madras Motor Track in Chennai. His track time was recorded as 2:01:037 which were followed by Sandeep Kumar with a difference of about 0.672 seconds. The next spot was grabbed by SaileshBolisetti – guest driver and 2010 Polo R Cup Champion. He will be starting at the third position from the grid with a difference of about 1.395 seconds with Ameya.

Commenting on his performance in Race One of round three, Ameya said that he was feeling good and hope to pick up from where he left. He added that the first position in the first lap was helped by the fresh new tyres and starting from this position will help him a lot to maintain the lead and stay ahead. He also said that he loved the track and was eagerly waiting for the next race.

Second on the track, Sandeep Kumar told that he was quite satisfied with his performance and also added that the incredible performance by Ameya was difficult to match. He further added that he felt more confident as the race car will be able to perform better with the race distance. Sailesh Bolisetti said that the qualifying rounds were better but he was satisfied with his 3rd position on the grid. He also added that he was quite happy to get back on the track and drive new TSI Race Polo.

Prithviraj Siddappa, head of Motorsports, Volkswagen India said that it was great to get back in Chennai race track even in this challenging weather the drivers and their machines have risen for the event.

May 9, 2012

Volkswagen clearing 2011 stock of Polo and Vento

As the prices of petrol take a hit, the petrol powered vehicles are given a step motherly treatment by new buyers. Volkswagen is still struggling to clear its 2011 Vento and Polo stock, giving a bonus shot to the buyers looking for discounts.

It is five months into the 2012 calendar and the German automaker is eager to chuck out the 2011 stock of VW Polo hatch and VW Vento sedan. While most automakers adopt the discount strategy in the first months of the new calendar, Volkswagen is attempting the trick now. In a rush to clear the 2011 stock of Polo hatch, Volkswagen India is offering the 1.2-liter and 1.6-liter petrol trim of Polo at a jaw-dropping discount of Rs. 50,000. Complementary to the discount is a free insurance and an annual maintenance contract (AMC) of 2 years.

With the price of insurance and AMC summed up to the initial discount, the total discount on the on-road price comes to a staggering 20.5 percent. In figures it is Rs 1.1 lacs! While that is the case with the Polo hatch, the Vento sedan enjoys a flat discount of Rs 1 lac on the petrol trim.

In addition, the 2012 Volkswagen Vento sedan delivers after one month from the day of booking. Don’t be under the impression that the 2012 Polo petrol is overbooked in the current calendar. Taking into account the 2011 performance, VW has decided to send the petrol trim into production at the facility only after an order is placed at the dealership. The 2012 Volkswagen Polo & Vento petrol enjoy free insurance and AMC worth Rs. 60,000.

Something that needs to be taken into notice is that a 2011 model delivered in 2012, still holds the 2011 production date. This fact plays a vital role during resale of the car. Although the petrol trims did not do fairly well in the Indian economy, both the VW cars are outrageous machines. They have one of the best power in the respective segment, and come with top-notch German quality. Many automakers in the country are compelled to offer heavy discounts on the petrol models to maintain the ratio with alternate fuel cars sold.