Volkswagen has started production of the B-segment Polo hatchback at its 110,000 capacity Chakan plant in Pune. Early cars will have 50 per cent local parts and VW targets 80 per cent localisation in the next three years. The supermini is set for a January 2010 launch at the India Auto Expo.
VW currently plays only in the premium segment with its new Beetle, Passat and Jetta sedans, Phaeton limo and Touareg SUV. The five-door Polo is a move to penetrate the mass market and increase market share. In India, the Polo will compete with the Hyundai i20, Maruti Swift and the Tata Indica Vista, among others. Next year will see the introduction of the Ford Figo (a refreshed previous gen Fiesta), a new version of the Nissan Micra and the Chevrolet Beat to this class.
Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.
wow..even india has VW plant..
1ST
THERE GOES VW
THEY ALL LOOK SAME TO ME
No signs of the Polo and Mk6 Golf here? Only the Mk6 GTI is being offered. I was hoping the 1.4 TSI made its debut here.
Tough luck Proton!
the pic shows new POLO? thats nice! i thought it is GOLF. dont know when VW will produce is models in Mal? we already sick of looking national cars plus jap on the road here. need some affortable EU compact cars on the road.
If the auto version is sold at below rm90K, I definitely want to buy as my spare car.
in the last decade, india has only produced the `Hindustan' cars and suzuki maruti, as somehow they `protected' the local auto industry.. now they have move leaps and bounds.. the koreans has invested a lot, and now more auto giants will do the same.. is is what liberisations of economy means.. soon, we will be like india 20 years ago, only few local cars are available as foreign cars will cost more to buy due to higher tax and duties…
Agreed, 1malaysia. We need a wider variety of cars on our roads. Too many Protons and Japs. Even seeing more rickshaws and kreta lembu is a welcome sight.
"In India, the Polo will compete with the Hyundai i20, Maruti Swift and the Tata Indica Vista, among others. Next year will see the introduction of the Ford Figo (a refreshed previous gen Fiesta), a new version of the Nissan Micra and the Chevrolet Beat to this class."
Ahhh…best of all no Proton Savvy yet to chimp and clown the Indian market. Fugly-ness, hideous looks is anti-climax for Bollywoodland of beauties.
export to malaysia with a cheaper price
really nice car, wonder if it had a brown colour something like porsche 911's brown, VW has always been making simple, functional and dignified cars, i think this going to share a price tag of a higher spec honda jazz, abt 100k
Malaysians deserved this too, I'm rather happy for Polo in sedan to replace Vios/City/Persona. Better if we can secure Golf.
polo is such a great car…whatmore vw is wellknown for their quality,the polo will deifnately be an awesome car for their roads there
after 3 years sure got bunyi here bunyi there one, trust me.
Yala, you think all profit goes to Indian one meh…sure VW takes all one la and left nothing to them
Proton is better! Best in the world! We should stop all foreign car selling in Malaysia! Use only Proton in Msia. If not happy, go somewhere else that can drive other car la..
Sounds familiar?
@Blaze, India in the last decade has been producing more than Hindustan and Maruti Cars.
Hyundai has been manufacturing here for at least a decade. Same with Ford. Add GM to the list. As well as Honda and Toyota. Plus assembly operations for Skoda, Audi, BMW and Mercedes.
That said, the Polo we are getting here is a highly de-specced version (or versions) to meet aggressive pricing targets. Where Euro spec starts for base SE models, India spec Polos are looking to top out at top of the range around the 10,000 GBP mark.
Look here for pics of the launch of the production run: http://www.flickr.com/photos/notjustshrawan/41806…
This gives a clearer indication of cost-cutting made to meet price targets.
old man said,
December 16, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
Yala, you think all profit goes to Indian one meh…sure VW takes all one la and left nothing to them
Proton is better! Best in the world! We should stop all foreign car selling in Malaysia! Use only Proton in Msia. If not happy, go somewhere else that can drive other car la..
Sounds familiar?
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LOL nice. Now all the protectionists have nothing to say….you basically conveniently summarized all of thier 25 year argument in 2 sentences.
Imagine the Indians now have a few extra thousands of new jobs in that plant. Most people fail to see that any FDI is good. Even if the investing company reaps most of the profit, GDP is still GDP for the country.
Besides most of these production will be exported…
Old Man sounds like you're high on dope again!
geram betul tengok polo ni…rasa nak gigit2 – cun sangat!
VW should try to increase their market share right here in Malaysia and obliterate T and H cars to other countries…go conti cars!
The pics linked by phillip do look like cars you would expect to see on Indian roads. All the basic needs of a compact hatch.
Did I see a dashboard without an audio HU? Are they optional there?
Ada dengar khabar yang VW nak bawak masuk Polo nie ke Malaysia tapi tak pasti sama ada 'VW malaysia' ke 'VW car' yang nak bawak masuk. Ada dengar gak mungkin dilancarkan pertengahan 2010…
I need a polo GTi. A tornado red polo GTi to be exact.
indian road? go and see it.. i dont think they to pay road tax yearly basis
so smart. I like the design. Good job vw. You are the best…
I'm sure this model will cost more than RM100k, even for base model, if it's to be sold here in BolehLand. Thanks to our tax & duty structure.
prrr!!
@pulge
we are not too sure ourselves what we will be getting. The car will be launched officially at the Auto Expo on Jan 5.
Until then we have no idea how many variants and what engines and what pricing.
The red car in the pics is a lower level variant. We know there will be higher specs than this one, with fogs and ABS etc. But until it is officially announced we are also just as clueless except for what we see in the pics!
Mike in india Szk Swift the base model only cost around rm40-rm45 and the most exp will cost cheaper then here….and we can buy H. Jazz around Rm70k-Rm80k…..soo i think This Polo will be around Rm.80k to Rm90k onli…..
Off topic …how much a brand new BMW 525i cost here since my uncle bought it for Rm320k
we got proton in malaysia, good enough ,we dont need any thing else.
Malaysia boleh. Kereta mahal boleh!!!! kereta buruk boleh!!!!!
can someone explain. what about bluemotion technology. cause i look super saver car with it. 3.8l/100km
philip, when i say the last decade, i meant years before 1999, sorry my bad..
i was in india numerous times from late 80's up to mid 90's..
off course the specification will be much lower than the ones from the originating country, but, sooner they MAY make india as the production centre for asia or RHD markets. Correct me if I'm wrong again but hyundai i10 from india is market the world over?.. including the UK?
this the kind of investment that we are missing out..
Hey, we need jobs here too!!! And more choices of cars!!!
vw was among the common car that we can found before proton's era.and we should be proud of our car.dont only think when you buy overseas car,people will look at you.please,even our proton cars have a lot of problem,doesnt mean that forever with problem.if you all didnt buy proton's car,who else???
This POLO is produced in INDIA and suddenly everybody thinking most Indians can afford one…
autojohndoe said,
December 17, 2009 @ 7:21 pm
This POLO is produced in INDIA and suddenly everybody thinking most Indians can afford one…
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totally agree with u..
tata nano maybe yer..
Why do you malays make so many sarcastic remarks? Why are you guys out of touch with reality ? Trust me, the proton that you are so prooud of, we indians would not even sit in it ! Stop living in a fools paradise
We have everyone here, Ford, GM, Skoda, honda, toyota, hyundai, suzuki, VW, BMW, mercedes, Fiat ,skoda, all of these guys have plants in india, besides tata and mahindra, bajaj, TVS, Hero local producers.
We are doing quite nicely, thank you. Worry abt yourselves, spare us.
Sick guys.