Volkswagen Up! compact sedan (speculated rendering)
These are the days, where everyone wants compact cars, especially in India. One big cause for this compact craze, is the excise benefits that entails compact cars, if the car measures less than 4 metres in length, it saves a lot on tax, and therefore getting the price advantage and the other major reason is, the infamous Indian traffic. So, there are Compact SUV’s, compact sedans, and even hatchbacks are becoming more and more compact by the day! And going by the competition and knowing that the future of motoring is ‘compact’, German automotive giant Volkswagen does not want to be left behind. Volkswagen, has BIG plans for the compact sedan segment in India.
Volkswagen India is considering a range of different options for compact sedans in India. A Polo based compact sedan would look like a good option at first, but the Polo already measures 3.9 metres in length and adding a boot to it would not keep it under 4 metres, and it already has a sedan based on the same platform, the Vento. So, the best bet for Volkswagen would be, to base this new sedan on the NSF(New Small Family) platform which is the underpinning of cars like the Volkswagen UP! and Skoda Citigo, it has also spawned the Volkswagen Tiguan compact SUV.
Volkswagen Vento compact sedan (speculated rendering)
Given the fact that Volkswagen has been testing the UP! in India for quite some time now, it’s safe to say that Volkswagen would use this platform for the new sedan. Engines that could power the car are, the 1.2 liter MPI naturally aspirated petrol or the 1.2 liter TSI turbo-supercharged engine. But since Volkswagen intends to stop producing naturally aspirated engines in the future, the TSI could make its way into the engine bay of the new compact sedan. As, for diesel engines, Volkswagen could downsize their 1.6 liter TDi engine to 1.5 liters. This would help the car duck under the excise benefit scheme and also become a tool of choice for enthusiasts, as these engines are known worldwide for their astonishing performance.
Now what remains to be seen is, if Volkswagen will actually produce the compact sedan, and if they do, would they get the pricing right? Only time can tell, and if they do sign it off for production, we can expect it to hit the roads in the later part of 2015.
Also see – Photo Rendering – Skoda’s version of Volkswagen Taigun Compact SUV
Photo Rendering – 2014 Volkswagen Vento Compact Sedan envisioned by designer
Source – AutoCarIndia
