Impact of Volkswagen's upcoming compact sedan on rivals

There are reports floating in town that Volkswagen is planning to launch a Vento based compact sedan. However, the whole process is in its nascent stage. Volkswagen India is talking to Hinduja Group's Defiance Technologies for designing the same. Like the recent trend in India, hatchbacks and their counterpart sub-4m compact sedans; Swift-Dzire, Grand i10-Xcent, Brio-Amaze and the upcoming Zest-Bolt; VW did not have any offering between the Polo and the Vento. To fill-in the gap, VW is likely to bring an entry level compact sedan in the near future.

Rendered image of Volkswagen's compact sedan based on Vento 

Lets have a quick glance over what impact possibly the VW's compact sedan could make on the existing and upcoming rivals. VW might not shake things up, but it will create its niche market like the Polo did. The car will carry forward the Vento and Polo's pedigree in terms of built quality and fit & finish; it will certainly, be an edge over rivals when it comes to such parameters. Speaking of the engines, it is expected that the vehicle will be powered by Polo's powertrains to keep it competitive. Polo's 1.2 liter petrol gathers 73.9bhp and 110Nm of torque and 1.2 liter diesel churning out 73.9bhp and 180Nm. If VW offers this car with the 1.2 liter turbo petrol, which also powers the Polo GT, then this vehicle can certainly shake up the petrol arena if priced right.

Talking of the rivals Tata Zest seems to be the most anticipated upcoming product in this category; the car features segment first automated-manual transmission (AMT) in the diesel and possibly the only diesel automatic under 10 lakh. The Zest, which is designed in Europe, features a Harman infotainment system and premium interiors which makes it a tough rival to beat. Hyundai also introduced Xcent recently with some segment first features like rear AC vent, rear parking camera, engine start-stop and others. Honda's Amaze is leading the mileage charts with 25.8kmpl while the Maruti Swift Dzire is topping the sales chart. The competition in this segment is increasing with each entrant, as there's lot of possibilities in this space thanks to the excise relaxation. People, who want reliable German machinery, built to last product and hassle free ownership, they will definitely go for the VW's product. Cheers!

Source: ET