The slow-selling duo of Volkswagen Polo and Vento are set to receive a minor shot in the arm in the next few days. The minor facelift exercise will see both the hatchback and sedan adopt noticeable design changes and enhanced equipment lists.
The VW Vento and Polo facelift are scheduled to be introduced on September 4. Ahead of the launch, vW dealers who have stock of unsold Polo and Vento units, are offering the same at heavy discounts. Polo is being sold at cash discounts and benefits which amount to Rs 80,000 while Vento is being offered with discounts of up to Rs 1.14 lakhs.
Speaking about the facelifted Polo and Vento, the duo have been spotted without any camouflage at a VW India dealership, giving us a clear idea on what to expect.
The updated version of the hatchback which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in our market features a restyled front bumper and redesigned taillight detailing. Both changes are clearly inspired by the Polo GTI hot hatchback which had a limited production run in India.
We expect the VW Vento facelift to incorporate similar upgrades. As far as interior is concerned, both cars are expected to move forward without much visual changes. New colour themes for the upholstery and increased comfort features are expected to be on offer.
VW India has already been offering ABS and dual front air bags as standard fitment on all of its models. With the update, features like speed alert system, front passenger seat belt warning, and rear parking sensors will be standard across all variants. Given that the old India-spec Polo earned a 4-star rating in Global NCAP crash tests, no structural reinforcement would be necessary to clear the new BNVSAP Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program.
The VW Polo facelift and Vento facelift are likely to continue with their existing BS4 lineup of petrol and diesel engines at the time of launch. The BS-6 motors could be introduced closer to the April 1, 2020 deadline.
The German automaker is currently in the process of localizing the BS-VI version of the 1.0-liter TSI turbo-petrol engine that is expected to replace the existing 1.0-liter naturally aspirated and 1.2-liter turbocharged petrol units. The 1.5-liter diesel engine which is available in two states of tune is also expected receive BS-VI upgrade.
The next generation versions of the Polo and Vento for India would be based on the MQB A0 IN platform which is being localized by Skoda. We expect the first India-spec VW product to be based on this architecture to be ready by 2021.
