It is no secret that Volkswagen is working on two compact crossovers on existing vehicle platforms. One is the Up! based SUV which will be a compact SUV positioned as the cheapest SUV in VW’s portfolio, while the other is the Polo based SUV, which has high chances of making it to Indian shores in the later half of the decade. Autobild has posted more details on the Polo based SUV along with an artist impression of the same. If the rendering is accurate, one can expect the Polo based SUV to take the market by storm immediately on introduction. However, by that time, Renault might unveil the next generation Duster, which would be the Polo based SUV’s main competitor.
The Volkswagen Polo based SUV will be based on the company’s new MQB platform, which is very cost effective. Just recently it was revealed that Volkswagen India plans to produce engines locally, which could result in heavy cost savings and aggressive pricing of future products. The Polo based SUV will share many parts and components with the next generation Polo, which arrives in 2014. The Polo based SUV will only arrive in 2016 in global market and is expected to be priced around Rs. 15 lakhs.
We expect Volkswagen to share the powertrains with the Vento in India to price the Polo based SUV competitively. Both manual and automatic gearbox will be offered while the top end variant will be given 4-wheel drive. However by the time the Polo based SUV goes on sale, it will also have to rival the Ford EcoSport, Maruti Suzuki’s XA Alpha, GM’s Chevrolet Trax and a compact SUV from Hyundai. The reason for the delay of the VW compact SUV can be attributed to the failed partnership with Suzuki.
Source – Autobild
