Team-BHP - VW's Polo-based compact sedan, Ameo unveiled!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cartman (Post 3688968)

The latest images, I believe are just VW playing their favorite games with the spotters. Remember how the Vento was disguised as a Fiesta prior to its launch? :uncontrol

Oh yeah! Almost forgot about that one!

But they did do some interesting things at the time of the launch of the vento. Do you guys remember that light sensitive audio thingy which was attached to the morning news paper?

Im really surprised at VW for following a low volume strategy and for not bringing in cars like the Voyage, Touran and Tiguan in India, which i think are more of a fit if they want to be a mass market player here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by acidkill (Post 3689177)

Im really surprised at VW for following a low volume strategy and for not bringing in cars like the Voyage, Touran and Tiguan in India, which i think are more of a fit if they want to be a mass market player here.

I'm rather happy the Voyage isn't here. What an ugly looking car! I don't think India will ever be a mass-volume market for VW. They might be successful in penetrating to the lower-segments, but I for one think there might never be a sub 4-Lakh VW in India. Unless they decided to surprise me with the Up! :D

For Brazil: the Voyage is their Vento. And the Gol is their Polo. And they are similarly priced too.

Cheers!
Cartman :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cartman (Post 3689204)

I'm rather happy the Voyage isn't here. What an ugly looking car!

I share your sentiments Cartman. But, our country seems to be getting filled with "premium-fied" low cost cars.

It almost like every manufacturers mantra is to make a sub 10 lakh ex-showroom car and give it beige interiors, and all the other possible 'good to have' features on earth at staggered price points

I was recently discussing this sub 4m VW sedan news with the sales rep of one of the biggest dealers in mumbai. He confirmed to ke that these rumours are indeed true and the launch is expected sometime in May or June. We have to wait and see how ugly or nice this sedan looks like in the flesh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detroit-Dude (Post 3692374)

No dealers and that too very remotely VW in particular will be aware of the new launches and dates.The compact sedan is rumored to come only in 2016, while the 'facelift' Vento will come this year.
Is the dealer aware of this facelift or its details?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detroit-Dude (Post 3692374)

one of the biggest dealers in mumbai. He confirmed that these rumours are indeed true and the launch is expected sometime in May or June.

Seems like your dealer friend has the right info:

Quote:

The upcoming sub 4-meter Volkswagen compact sedan based on the Polo has been spied doing the testing rounds. The Volkswagen compact sedan will be launched on May 25 and will go up against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, the Honda Amaze, Tata Bolt Hyundai Xcent and the upcoming Ford Aspire

Source

This article from car wale has a good view of the rear. I spent a long time staring at this picture and the rear of my vento. No way this can be a compact sedan. As already pointed out, looks to be the vento facelift. Looks like one site reported it as a compact sedan and every one else is picking that up.

http://www.carwale.com/m/news/18465-...d-testing.html

One generic question I have is, if the facelifts are minimal and largely cosmetic why do companies do a lot of this so called ' testing'. Is it purely to create a buzz? May be VW themselves are responsible for the compact sedan rumor :)

Volkswagen compact sedan could be called Bora.

Quote:

Sticking to the trend, VW is considering names of winds for the new sedan.

While the car is internally known as the ICS or Indian Compact Sedan, VW already has what it says is a provision name for the car — Bora. The advantage with this name is that, like the Vento it is a name that has been used internationally before. The other is that, like many VW cars, it is named after a wind. So Bora, a high speed wind that blows near the Aegean Sea can fit in well with Polo inspired by the Polar wind; Vento meaning wind in Italian; Jetta named after the jetstream; Golf after gulfstream, and finally Passat, a German trade wind

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...ra-394887.aspx

Quote:

Originally Posted by volkman10 (Post 3700621)

Volkswagen compact sedan could be called Bora.

It seems they are resurrecting an old brand name:
Refer to the article by Wiki:
Volkswagen Bora

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Volkswagen Bora

The Volkswagen Bora is an automobile produced by Volkswagen. It replaced the Vento in 1998, and was replaced by the Jetta in 2005.
Engines

1.4 16V 55 kW (75 hp)
1.6 74 kW (100 hp) and 75 kW (102 hp)
1.6 16V 77 kW (105 hp)
1.6 FSI 81 kW (110 hp)
1.8 20V 92 kW (125 hp)
1.8 T 110 kW (147 hp) and 132 kW (180 hp)
2.0 85 kW (115 hp)
2.3 V5 110 kW (150 hp) and 125 kW (170 hp)
2.8 V6 150 kW (204 hp)
1.9 SDI 50 kW (68 hp)
1.9 TDI 66 kW (90 hp), 74 kW (100 hp), 81 kW (110 hp), 85 kW (115 hp), 96 kW (130 hp) and 110 kW (150 hp)

From the same ACI article, they're also considering the name Derby, although it has a feminine'ish ring to it, I personally feel its a better name than Bora and I really hope they name it anything other than Bora.

The Japanese, Koreans, Americans and even Indian carmakers have given their best at designing the compact sedan with only a few of them managed to make the cars moderately good looking. It'll be really interesting to see what the Kings of the car world, the Germans, manage to do with it. They're very late into the party but a good product will always manage to sway the public sentiment in their favor, irrespective of how established the rivals. The elite i20 is a glaring example. People willing to wait for months than buying cars from other manufacturers and given the number of Asta variants I keep seeing of the roads, people will not shy from splurging if they feel the car is worth every rupee.

Just wondering if VW will try something different with this. Rather than compact sedan why not look at a notch back like the Octavia, Laura, Accent Viva type. From the outside look like a sedan but opens like an hatch.

The advantage bigger boot space and secondly more seamless to integrate that small boot.

I've been wondering why the manufacturers have been after this chopped sedans when they can easily make notch backs. Just because it's under 4m doesn't mean it has to look ugly and quirky.

Ofcourse only logical reason is cost. Notch back will involve struts and additional parts for notch back opening.

The concept sketches of the VW do look a lot like not notch back so I'm hoping VW thinks out of the box and moves away from conventional trend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 3701189)

I for one hope VW does this. If VW can do an understated, timeless design like the Vento with this compact sedan and provide a good diesel engine / DSG combo, I have my cheque ready.

In fact, I think VW can potentially do this fairly easily since they have a lot of experience in Europe where this type of car is very popular - even the larger cars like the Opel Insignia, Ford Mondeo have this as their basic design.

I was also hoping Tata would do a notch back design with the Zest, but that's a different topic altogether

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 3701189)

I've been wondering why the manufacturers have been after this chopped sedans when they can easily make notch backs. Just because it's under 4m doesn't mean it has to look ugly and quirky.

Totally see where you're coming from! Actually apart from a notchback, it is so very unfortunate that station wagons never really managed to sell in India. Picture this, each of the CS models was actually a sub. 4m station wagon, I'm think of a host of nice proportionate sportwagons...i know looks are subjective, but personally i would prefer a station wagon to a stubby boot - no offense to anyone... aah well, but that is wishful thinking.