Time and again Skoda India has said that a car under the Fabia is essential if it wants to expand its market presence. Having seen the lackluster approach in launching variants, especially in the last 18 months, and following a group company’s typical strategy of playing second fiddle to VW products in many segments, Skoda’s version of the Up! might not be launched in India simultaneously or within a short time period.
Skoda presented many products at the Auto Expo in New Delhi last year and planned to introduce many of them in India.
The only products that came to the market were Yeti and the Skoda Laura vRS.
So the question we’re asking is will it take the Skoda Joyster/Youngster a year or more after the Up to appear? Will the delay and familiarity have a negative showing on the Skoda small car?
Volkswagen might want to wait for the Up to settle down before the Youngster/Joyster drives in. The Fabia sedan-Vento have followed the same procedure and it might be the protocol for all products that occupy the same segment and are priced similarly.
What are your thoughts?
Volkswagen has chosen to not wait until the Frankfurt Motorshow to unveil the VW UP. So here we have the first official images of the VW Up which is going to be VW’s cheapest car in India ever. Of course, it will also be launched in Europe and America because fuel efficient cars are very much in demand over there as well. The UP is an entry level hatchback that [ Read More ]
The Volkswagen Up! will make its world premiere on the 22nd of August at the Paris Grand Palais on the Champs-Elysees, a prestigious venue in France according to some reports that have appeared on the internet. According to vwup.blogspot.com, the premiere will kick off at 8PM. The Up’s the most anticipated in recent years and will give access to the segment here in India ruled by the Maruti Wagon R and Hyundai i10.
We have no confirmation from Volkswagen yet, though these reports claim that it was Volkswagen that made this announcement. All along we were in the belief that VW will bring the Up! to the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Sister brands Skoda and SEAT will build their versions of the Lupo that are likely to be christened Skoda Youngster and SEAT Arosa, according to media reports that have emerged in the last few months.
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Manager Magazine has reported that an affordable car for China, India and Brazil next year will be based on the Up! series and cost 6,000 Euros (3.83 lakh rupees). As the debut of the Lupo (hatchback of the Up! series) nears, speculation is rife about it arriving here in 2012 with a 800cc petrol engine and 1.2-liter diesel engine.
IAB readers will know that VW has dropped plans to sell rebadged Marutis in India and the new small car will have the “Volkswagen” name in block letters at the rear similar to the Polo and Vento. The Lupo will be seen for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September this year. A number of models are planned on the Up! platform and the possibility of a car under the Polo is exciting news to VW fanboys.
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We have reported that Volkswagen’s car below the Polo, according to reports, will be the production version of the Up! concept car. Autocar’s latest reports that that the Up! will be branded Lupo. Several startling revelations on engine options, branding and launch dates have been made. Read on!
The VW group’s new small car will also be offered to customers as Audi, Skoda and Seat with a view of attaining global leadership in automobiles by 2018.
The Lupo will be the company’s entry-level car and it replaces the Fox which is built in Brazil. The Lupo will hit Britain’s shores in 2012, the report adds.
Due to financial reasons, VW has opted for the front engine, front wheel drive layout like a conventional car. Select markets in Europe will receive the Up! next year.
This prompts the question – Will the Up! be introduced by the end of next year in India?
The Volkswagen Lupo will be initially available with the 1 liter engine producing 65 hp and a 1.2 liter common-rail diesel unit with an output of 75 hp (read Polo’s engine).
The VW Lupo platform will see different bodystyles. The Lupo platform will yield a family of cars instead of just a hatchback or a sedan.
The Lupo will have both 3-door and 5-door versions. In India, since many car buyers choose to relax in the back seat of their car, there will be no availability of a 3-door model. The electric version of the Lupo based on the E-Up concept, will see the light of the day in the next few years but don’t expect it to come to India anytime soon.
Volkswagen is developing its global small car the UP and India would be one the most important market for the VW UP. Volkswagen would be sharing the UP platform with Skoda and Seat also. Though the Seat version of the city car wouldn’t come to India, Skoda version, which could be called the Joyster, would be coming to India in the future.
The picture posted above is a rendering of how the Seat’s version of the VW UP could look. The car looks different from the VW UP! concept, which was more like a compact tall boy design. The Seat city car is more sleeker and sportier. The Skoda Joyster also can be expected to come with sporty looks.
The reason for Seat and Skoda’s version of the city car being different from the VW UP’s tallboy, utilitarian yet attractive design could be the fact that these 3 models would be selling alongside each other in the European market and these three brands are perceived differently. VW which enjoys a better a better reputation would like to be compared to likes of Skoda and Seat which are ‘value’ brands.
For India though, the Skoda small car could come as a sporty hatchback targeting younger customers at a low price (3-4 lakh rupees) while the Volkswagen UP could be a more practical tallboy aimed at brand conscious buyers. If VW India can create different identities for the UP and the Joyster, then we would approve that VW and Skoda are complementing each other in India.
Click here to see Indian Autos Blog’s exclusive Skoda small car rendering.
Skoda India is keen on entering the ever-growing small car segment soon. The Volkswagen owned Czech car-maker which entered the Indian market in the year 2001 with the rock solid Skoda Octavia, cemented its position as premium car maker in India. Now Skoda India is getting more ambitious as it has hinted that it would be making more affordable cars (small cars) for the Indian market.
Thomas Kuehl, Sales and Marketing, Skoda India -
All this while, we have been in the high level of the lifestyle. People like our cars (but) we need to be a little more affordable.
Skoda is in the process of developing the small car and this could be sold both in the Indian market as well as the European market. The new small car which could be christened the ‘Joyster’, would be built on Volkswagen’s upcoming UP! small car platform. The Skoda Joyster could also compete with the Tata Nano Europa in the future, as Skoda is perceived as a ‘value’ brand in the Europe.
The Skoda small could share the small frugal 1.0l TDI diesel engines and a sub 1.0l petrol with the VW UP!. As both the smallc ars are based on the same platform the Skoda small car could be built at VW’s high capacity plant at Chakan, Pune. The car could be priced between 3 to 4 lakh Rupees.
It would be interesting to see how VW manages the Skoda Joyster and the VW UP! selling in the same market at a close price range. VW India says both the brands complement each other rather than eating into each others sales, but would they still be complementing each other even in the small car segment?
Click here to see Indian Autos Blog’s exclusive Skoda small car rendering
VW India’s spokesperson spilled the beans while speaking to journalists recently on its compact car that sits under the Polo. He said VW hasn’t yet finalized plans for this small or should I say smaller car, which we believe is the production avatar of the VW Up! concept.
Volkswagen Group’s India Communication Head Kurt Rippholz -
Believe me, we will have something smaller than the Polo. We are working on it. First you have to conceptualise and then assess the market potential.
There has been no official word, but this proposed small car is being worked on by the German engineers. Recently, spy shooters have captured what they claim is the Up’s platform being tested using a dummy body (pictured).
The VW Up! will have multiple powertrains. Also on the menu is a Skoda and a Seat based on the Up!
In a media report printed last year, VW had delayed the launch date of the Up! to late 2011 citing the lack of clarity on the branding front as a reason.
Speculated to start at 3 lakh rupees, the VW Up! according to Autocar India will internationally be sold with three engines – a tiny three-cylinder 1-litre TDI engine, 1.2-liter TDI (found in the Polo), the entry-point 800cc petrol unit, and the high-performance 1.2 TSI motor which is unlikely to make it on not only Up! but any affordable VW product in India.
VW has chucked the rear-engine, rear wheel drive layout on the concept car in favor of the front-engine, front-wheel drive layout.
Skoda presented many products at the Auto Expo in New Delhi last year and planned to introduce many of them in India.
