Last year, Volkswagen India launched the critically acclaimed Polo GTI hot hatch at a eye-watering price tag of INR 26 lakhs. Initial lot of 100 units were gobbled up quick despite the steep asking price but it’s being reported that the second lot of imported GTI’s had to be pushed with discounts.
Meanwhile, the Polo has entered it’s sixth generation in Europe which means the supply of older Polo GTI will soon dry out. The all-new Polo is based on the automaker’s famed MQB platform and is significantly different inside out.
VW India is reportedly in a dilemma regarding the launch of the next gen VW Polo GTI. While the company wants to ensure that the newly introduced GTI performance nameplate has a continuity it is also concerned about the pricing which would get even higher thanks to the import duties and the more expensive MQB platform.
An alternative is to wait till the MQB platform is heavily localized in India (MQB A0 IN) and then introduce the Polo GTI as a locally assembled model. However, this would mean waiting for at least 2 years or perhaps, even more since initial priority for the localized MQB platform would be mass market models from VW and Skoda.
According to Autocar India, VW India is considering the launch of the new Polo GTI as a CBU now and later introduce the CKD model once the time is right. That means, petrolheads with the budget to spare may get to enjoy the all-new and vastly improved Polo much before the prospective customers of the regular variants.
Sadly, there is no news about VW India’s plans to launch the new generation of regular Polo. But with sales of Polo on a decline, VW India might be pushed to launch an updated Polo, which might look same as the Euro-Spec Polo.
