VOLKSWAGEN IS ALL SET TO LAUNCH A BRAND NEW SALOON by Diwali this year, which has been tailor made for . Sticking to VW’s tradition of naming its model on popular winds, the new car will be called the Vento, which means ‘wind’ in Italian. The anticipated sedan will be based on the Polo platform and the similarity is clearly visible. Thankfully, the boot has been very aesthetically integrated in the Vento and overall the car looks understated yet attractive.
The Vento will feature good equipment levels that will be a mix of Polo and Golf. The wheelbase has been extended for better comfort and rear legroom. The seats will get special cushioning for comfort even during long drives on bad roads. It will feature strong air-conditioning, good ground clearance, AntiBraking Systems (ABS), airbags and even a strong horn which is necessary for Indian conditions. The sedan will sport new and advanced 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines. These will have identical power output of 105PS giving the car an impressive power to weight ratio. The naturally aspirated petrol is an all-new engine developed specially for the Vento and will feature a four valve head and double overhead camshafts. Once the engine is introduced in , we can expect the same to be offered as an option in the Polo. The petrol mill produces 147Nm of torque while the diesel has an impressive max torque of 250Nm (!), making the driving dynamics of both absolutely different. These engines will be tuned to offer good fuel economy and will initially come mated with a five-speed manual transmission. Later, both the engines will also be offered with the DSG automatic transmissions. The Vento with it’s 500 litre boot will also be a handy companion for family weekend getaways.
This is a very important car for the firm to make its mark in the country and the German auto giant hopes to sell close to 25,000 units of the Vento per annum form its Chakan plant near Pune. Volkswagen will be looking at taking on the likes of the Honda City by offering European build and quality at a very tempting price ranging from Rs 9 to 10 lakh.
