A VW Virtus was recently spied on a road test here, and we believe that it has something to do with VW Vento’s upcoming replacement
German car giant Volkswagen is preparing to launch a few India-specific products very soon, including the Taigun SUV and a new sedan. The latter is expected to be a replacement for the VW Vento, although there is a small chance that both the sedans will retail side by side in our market. Recently, a VW Virtus has been spotted in India during a road test, and there are plenty of speculations regarding its presence on our streets.
Volkswagen Virtus is sold in the South American market, and this test vehicle is a left-hand-drive model. We do not expect the Virtus to launch in India though, as it is an international model and Volkswagen is committed to developing India-specific models. As such, we believe that the Virtus has been brought here for component testing.
It is common for carmakers to test new parts and components of an in-development vehicle on other cars. The Virtus is based on the international-spec VW Polo, and is larger in dimensions than the Vento. Zac Hollis, Director of Sales and Marketing, Skoda India, has confirmed that the upcoming Skoda sedan will be larger than the Rapid, and thus, we expect its VW cousin to be bigger in size as well.
The new sedan will be underpinned by the heavily localised MQB AO IN platform, and will probably draw design inspiration from the Virtus. The powertrain options on the Virtus include a 1.0-litre TSI petrol motor (130 PS and 200 Nm), and a 1.5-litre TSI petrol mill (150 PS and 250 Nm). The Vento, on the other hand, is only available with a less powerful version of the 1.0L TSI petrol engine (110 PS and 175 Nm).
The 1.0-litre TSI powerplant from the Vento seems the most likely choice for the new sedan. That said, we do hope that Volkswagen India will tune the motor for a higher power rating. Considering that the upcoming sedan will be larger (and heavier), this would be a smart move.
The upcoming Volkswagen sedan is expected to arrive by late-2021. It is not known if the Vento nameplate will be discontinued after the arrival of this new sedan. No comments can be made on the price yet, as we do not have sufficient information at this point.