Volkswagen Group announced to invest Rs 8,000 crore in India last week. A majority of this will be invested in R&D. About 4,000 new jobs will be created in the country.
In a bid to develop India specific models with extensive levels of localization, Skoda has announced a new 1.0 liter, turbocharged, petrol engine. This new engine will be used on upcoming models both from Skoda and Volkswagen as has been revealed by Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier.
The new 1.0 liter TSI petrol engine will be cost effective. It will be a three cylinder, turbocharged engine that is a part of the EA211 family. The engine will be offered in two states of tune of 94 hp and 115 hp.
Having direct injection and being a compact and light engine will help in generating lower levels of friction resulting in highly efficient performance. The new 1.0 liter TSI will be seen on the new Polo, Skoda Fabia, Karoq and the all-new made for India VW SUV to rival Hyundai Creta.
Earlier Skoda also had plans to localize the 1.5 liter EA 189 diesel engine but those plans are put on hold for the moment as this was the same engine in the midst of the diesel emission scandal. This engine will also be phased out by 1st April 2020, the date on which BS VI emission norms come into effect. Skoda does have a later 2.0 liter diesel engine which is not suitable on its small cars on sale in India due to which all small cars from Skoda and Volkswagen will sport only petrol engines.
Heavy investment into increased localization is also a part of the company plan under the ‘India 2.0’ project. The company plans over 90% level of localization with a new MQB A0-IN platform for both Skoda and Volkswagen models. The first such model with this new platform is currently in the works with launch plans by 2020.