Indian Autos blog

News of the Jetta arriving at dealer showrooms has been on and off. The Jetta TSI is like a sneeze – you don’t know when it’ll come!

Volkswagen has been testing the TSI Jetta or a TSI-badged Jetta around its Chakan factory for many months now. VW India’s strategy was diesel-only for both Jetta and Passat as demand for petrol skewed to the bottom of sales charts across segments.

If you thought the Polo R line is thrilling, wait till you see what VW has planned for the Polo in 2013.

At Worthersee, Volkswagen unveiled the Polo R Concept, which is essentially a street legal WRC Polo.

Volkswagen India has spoken to the media yet again, expressing interest in launching the Up! city car that stations under the Polo in the German auto major’s international lineup.

Speaking to Live Mint newspaper, Dr John Chacko, VW Group’s chief representative in India, said a decision on the launch of the Up! is likely to be taken later this year.

Being its home market, Volkswagen is known to introduce a wide range of special edition models with all of its carlines. In yet another instance, Volkswagen has introduced a special edition CrossPolo called the Urban White Special Edition.

Why is it called CrossPolo? Is it very angry?

No, the CrossPolo is a just a jacked up version of the Polo with rugged looking body kit and bigger wheels to make it look outdoorsy. The reason it is called a CrossPolo is because it is a Cross between a hatchback and an SUV. The CrossPolo is to Polo what the Scout is to Fabia. It does not meet the requirements to off-road, it is Volkswagen’s representative at a fancy dress competition conducted on the hills.

You already know how the Volkswagen Group is planning to own the world by 2018. This so called ‘Strategy 2018’ has been on the right track since it was unveiled.

VW missed the numero uno position in 2011 because GM added GM-SAIC sales figures to its own balance sheet piping the German czar to the top spot. But VW Group is not worried because not only does it want to become the number 1 manufacturer in the world but also sell 10 million units annually by 2018.

When Volkswagen partnered with Suzuki, one of the key development was supposed to be the Rocktan – a compact SUV based on the SX4 platform. However, as the partnership fell apart, the project was delayed indefinitely.

However, owing to the increased demand of compact SUVs, VW is drawing up not one but two SUVs to target the compact SUV segment effectively.

We are all aware that the VW group plans to sell 10 million cars by 2018. We have exposed their world domination plans a long time back.

But Volkswagen India has said that India would contribute as high as 1 million units in the global sales figure by 2018.

That’s right, VW group (including Skoda, Porsche and Audi) plans to sell at least 1 million cars by 2018. That is 10% of that magical number expected to make the Volkswagen Group the No.1 car company in the world. It goes without saying that Volkswagen’s and Skoda’s affordable models are going to be the most significant contributors to the overall volume. Cars such as the Polo, Fabia, Vento, Rapid, Citigo, Up! will clock most of the numbers.

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Volkswagen’s providing plenty of customization options for the Polo in Europe and the UK. The sporty R-Line model is the newest addition to that lot, deliveries of which begin from July.

The Polo R-Line is based on the Polo Match variant available in both 3- and 5-door configurations. The only engine (that goes with the sporty theme) available is the 1.2-liter TSI petrol engine delivering 105PS, driven via a 6-speed manual gearbox. It has a top speed of 190kph and can reach 100kph from a standstill in under 10 seconds.

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