Volkswagen launched the Polo in India in 2010. After giving the premium hatchback a minor cosmetic update in 2012, the company went on to launch the GT TSI and GT TDI variants of the vehicle in 2013. The Polo competes with the Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20 and Fiat Punto and all these hatchbacks are going to get updates in the near future and hence it was imperative that Volkswagen too refresh the Polo before the next generation Polo comes out in 2016. The 2014 Volkswagen Polo (Indian version) has been spied and it carries a few cosmetic changes that give it a more premium feel.
On the outside, the new Polo gets a redesigned front bumper which comes with a chrome strip. This chrome strip is different in design when compared to the one found on the Vento. The headlight assembly remains the same and only a small dash of silver is added inside on the reflectors. While the current Polo comes with twin chrome slats on the grille, the refreshed Polo gets only one chrome strip. The side profile doesn’t carry any changes while the rear has few changes like the slightly changed tail lights and a new bumper design. The alloy wheels on this model look similar to the ones used on the Passat Trendline.
Moving to the interiors, the most noticeable change is the new flat-bottomed steering wheel which looks very sporty. The steering wheel also comes with a piano black finish and the layout of the audio and phone controls has changed. The centre console now comes with tacky looking silver surrounds and it doesn’t gel well with the black + beige theme of the interiors. The instrument cluster seems to be carried forward from the current model but the LCD screen is new with white colours rather than red seen on the old car. The variant pictured here looks like a petrol Highline variant since there is no TSI or TDI badging.
The 2014 Volkswagen Polo will be powered by the same 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine. The 1.2-litre TSI engine will continue to be used on the GT TSI. The diesel variants will get a new 1.5-litre unit which comes in two states of tune – 89 BHP and 104 BHP. The higher state of tune will be used on the GT TDI since the 1.6-litre unit will be phased out. There are many useful features that the global version of the Polo gets that are deleted in the Indian version. LED headlights, Driver Alert System, Front Assist ambient traffic monitoring system with City Emergency Braking, Automatic Post-Collision Braking System and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) are just some of the features that we Indians won’t be getting.
The global version of the 2014 Volkswagen Polo facelift also comes up with a sports suspension with adjustable dampers, which again the Indian version will conveniently miss out on. Volkswagen must be following a strategy to keep costs in check and this could be one of the major reasons for the omission of these features. While the Polo oozes out more appeal in this facelift, we must mention that the new orange-red shade looks very good and gels with the overall sporty theme of the car. While the Polo is already over-priced, we really hope the company doesn’t jack up the prices once this facelift arrives.
Spy Pictures Source – Autocar India
