[omar]

GTI’s have always fascinated me. Not the car itself. But the fact that a company like VW, took a bold step to bring such a car to India. At a time when most hatches were on sale for less than 10 lakh rupees, they took the decision to bring such a car to our country.

For an enthusiast, this is a rare move by a company where the bottom line was not the only motivating factor. It was something else. Rarely have we enthusiasts been heard, and a competent performance oriented international car been launched in our country.

We can’t complain much though. As it is one thing to demand a product to be launched, it is another to put your money where your mouth is. Most of the products are not launched due to correctly projected lack of demand (at the premium price point). This is evident from the GTI launch itself, so as with the VRS245 launch. Anything which was launched at too much of a premium failed to sell out.

However, one thing I have learnt is, if you hit the sweet spot, the cars will sell. This was evident when the cars literally flew off the shelves when the price of the GTI was reduced. This was also the case when the price of the VRS245 was reduced. With the growing income, there definitely is a market for such cars. Manufacturers need to find that at the planning stage and make an informed launch. (example the VRS230 launch). With the market and money moving towards SUV’s and EV’s, manufacturers are unfortunately more risk averse now.

What they fail to understand is the impact a successful performance car (from a mass market manufacturer) can have as a halo product. The GT/ GTI, VRS 230/245 and Abarth have built a community of enthusiasts and a car movement, which will be here for a long time. This simply cannot be quantified based on short term profitability assessments. These relatively affordable halo products have immense scope of building and maintaining a brand image. Most manufacturers do not realise this, when they have a short term outlook on profitability. I sincerely hope we have more international performance oriented cars being launched by VW, Skoda, Hyundai and Honda, at a competent price. I am sure they will do well.

Being an owner of the GTI, I always wanted to document all the cars in the country. The official count by VW initially was 99 cars sold. However, the rumored count is 200 cars. My aim is to track each one of them. So far I have been able to track 150 cars. This is based on the sources below:

• Details shared by Individual owners of their cars
• Details shared by Car spotters/ super car pages for cars in their city or state.
• Details posted on Social media, which is publicly available
• The registration numbers have been checked to confirm their validity and correctness.
• The registration numbers will not be disclosed individually in the analysis, to maintain privacy. The information will only be aggregated.

I am sharing some insights on the cars based on the data with me:

1. Cars In the Country by State:

• We have 151 cars that I have been able to track. They are split as per the current state of registration.
• The most cars in the country, I have are in Kerala. With 42 out of the 151 in the state. There are rumored to be 60 sold in the state. So I have a long way to go!
• Kochi is the single city with the highest number of cars in the country.

2. Cars Split by Colour:

• Four colours were originally sold. Red, White, Black and Silver.
• The list is based on the original colour, as when sold.
• Red is the most common colour, and for a reason. It looks absolutely amazing, and the best in my opinion.
• Silver is the rarest colour.
• Some cars have their colours changed at the RTO, or the colour not updated in RTO. These have been recorded as unkown or the current colour.
  

Take your pick:

Red GTI:




White GTI:




Black GTI:




Silver GTI:



3. Sales Trend(based on registration dates):

• Many of you may know the GTI was launched at the end of 2016. It was literally a sales dud. VW eventually reduced the prices, and the car took off, as it should!
• The car was launched in November 2016 for 25.99 lakhs. Link to the team bhp article: https://www.team-bhp.com/news/volksw...d-rs-2599-lakh
• It had a price reduction in mid 2017. After which sales spiked. Link to team bhp article: https://www.team-bhp.com/news/scoop-...w-rs-1999-lakh
• It had a further reduction in Jan 2018, after which we saw another jump. The car was sold out around May/ June 2018 in most places.
• Any registrations after that can be considered as a one off, where owners may not have registered their cars after purchase initially, but later did.

4. Number of Owners: Percentage Breakup

• Along with being a hot hatch, the car is also a hot seller in the used car market. Since it is a rare car, it is always in demand to the right buyer. Due to this, it has not lost much value in the pre owned market. The fact that the car was discontinued, and the Polo was discontinued as well eventually, has made sure the car holds its value well.
• 29% of the cars have changed hands at least once. (2nd Owner).
• 17% of the cars have changed hands at least twice. (3rd Owner)
• There are many cases where the cars have not been transferred officially, but have changed hands, in many cases multiple times. Hence the real world count is much higher. However, I have not considered these, as they are not official numbers.

While I have tracked 75% of the total cars, I still have 50 more cars to go. Would love to see any cars that I may have missed out on. Feel free to PM or post on this thread if you own or have spotted a GTI!

[Rtn777]

Amazing analysis Omar! Amazing effort on tracking each car individually and hope you do so until you reach the targeted 200 GTIs.

I saw a Cyan Polo GTi on "mad_machine_curator" insta page the other day, see if it helps.

Cheers,
Rtn.

[AKSarkar1]

As a hardcore VW enthusiast, I feel one of the reasons why the GTI also didn’t do as well was because it didn’t have majority of the features that the GTIs abroad did e.g. Sunroof, electric seats etc. The GTI was just a GT with a larger engine and 2 lesser doors to the layman. The package needed from the GTI should have been more along the lines of what Skoda did for the Octavia VRS (bucket seats, special colours, badging etc).

The car was more less comparable to the Polo GT TSI, with a couple of more features here and there, and that for me personally was a deal breaker. Instead of spending close to 20L on the GTI, I decided to do mods on my Polo GT inspired by the GTI and that kept me happy and satisfied till I finally parted ways with the car in 2020.

I think this was a shot that VW India could have taken smartly but missed. Still, have to give it to VW India for trying to bring a cult classic car for the 1st time to India!

[Mad Max]

On the same note, whatever happened to all those bright green VRS Skodas? Haven't seen even one of them on the road.

Great analysis on the GTIs. Would love to have that toy someday if there's enough side cash.

[DIV17]

Don't know whether it has already been documented, but there's a GTI in the city of Shivamogga, KA. The car is painted in a shade similar to British racing green (not sure about the original color) and is spotted quite frequently. Haven't taken any pics so far, but will definitely do the next time I see it

[omar]

Originally Posted by Rtn777

I saw a Cyan Polo GTi on "mad_machine_curator" insta page the other day, see if it helps.
Cheers,
Rtn.

Thanks for sharing. I did check the car, it is on my list. I think it was on sale as well. Nice colour

Originally Posted by AKSarkar1

As a hardcore VW enthusiast, I feel one of the reasons why the GTI also didn’t do as well was because it didn’t have majority of the features that the GTIs abroad did e.g. Sunroof, electric seats etc. !

It definitely was over priced based on the features on offer, especially when compared to the features or comforts of the VRS. The car was initially priced at what the VRS eventually would be (25.99 lakhs). It did not do well. But the moment the price was reduced, it actually sold well. So the initial pricing was wrong. But the eventual pricing was bang on.

Originally Posted by Mad Max

On the same note, whatever happened to all those bright green VRS Skodas? Haven't seen even one of them on the road.

These are the VRS245's. Not many sold in the country in green, hence a rare sight. But you will find pictures of them on social media.

Originally Posted by DIV17

Don't know whether it has already been documented, but there's a GTI in the city of Shivamogga, KA. The car is painted in a shade similar to British racing green (not sure about the original color) and is spotted quite frequently. Haven't taken any pics so far, but will definitely do the next time I see it

British Racing Green is one of my favourite colours! Would love to see how it looks on the GTI. Please do PM if you spot the car or have the registration details.

[akshayhonda]

Im aware of only 2 GTI in Goa. One is White (GA-03) with OZ wheels and other is Black which is bone stock (GA-05)

The white one was bought in brand new from Kochi if i remember correctly.

The Black one is driven every single day since its been bought. Its from my town. And it must have surely one more than a lakh of KMS on it. Driven by and senior gentleman. Always driven sedately till very day. I see that one almost every single day.

The white on been sold recently within the state only within friends. Pics of the White GTI from Goa

[headhoncho815]

Curious to know if any Polo GTIs in India have been totaled. In 2022 a red Polo flew off the biodiversity flyover in Hyderabad but reports vary on whether it was a regular Polo or a GTI.

I was in the market for a Polo GTI a couple of years ago but I couldn't find one in good condition in Hyderabad. There were a couple of them on sale at the time but both of them were tuned and had some distasteful cosmetic modifications.

[ash22]

The most cars in the country, I have are in Kerala. With 42 out of the 151 in the state. There are rumored to be 60 sold in the state. So I have a long way to go!

Mamooka's Black GTI is one of those 60.

[ringsoftime]

Oh, I might be a blessed one, because I have seen a yellow GTI, years ago. Unless they changed colour after buying.

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by headhoncho815

Curious to know if any Polo GTIs in India have been totaled. In 2022 a red Polo flew off the biodiversity flyover in Hyderabad but reports vary on whether it was a regular Polo or a GTI.

I was in the market for a Polo GTI a couple of years ago but I couldn't find one in good condition in Hyderabad. There were a couple of them on sale at the time but both of them were tuned and had some distasteful cosmetic modifications.

That was a GTi. It was totalled. This incident took place in 2019 IIRC.

[omar]

Originally Posted by akshayhonda

Im aware of only 2 GTI in Goa. One is White (GA-03) with OZ wheels and other is Black which is bone stock (GA-05)

One more white one as well in Goa. Another one from out of state, is also in Goa, which you have also posted.

Originally Posted by headhoncho815

Curious to know if any Polo GTIs in India have been totaled. In 2022 a red Polo flew off the biodiversity flyover in Hyderabad but reports vary on whether it was a regular Polo or a GTI.

I was in the market for a Polo GTI a couple of years ago but I couldn't find one in good condition in Hyderabad. There were a couple of them on sale at the time but both of them were tuned and had some distasteful cosmetic modifications.

It was a GTI. It is indeed very difficult to find a stock one for sale. But if you are patient, you should get one.

Originally Posted by ash22

Mamooka's Black GTI is one of those 60.

It is probably the most photographed and famous GTI . I have seen the the A45 added to the garage as well. Rarely do big car collectors go for hatches. They mostly go with the big, heavy cars. But a lot of fun can be had in a light, hot hatch as well. Shows great taste in his collection.

Originally Posted by ringsoftime

Oh, I might be a blessed one, because I have seen a yellow GTI, years ago. Unless they changed colour after buying.

Most probably changed to yellow after buying. That is one car where I have not been able to figure out the original colour.

[84.monsoon]

Great effort, kudos to the enthusiast in you! The Polo GTI is ineeded a very special car and every time I pass one in Chennai, I cannot stop but look back at it. My family think I am crazy to stare at a Polo, especially one that has only 2 doors!! The Polo has that ageless design that still looks desirable after all these years.

A similar effort was being made to document all the BMW M340is in India. The handle on Instagram called "The M340i registry" documented the first 200 of these cars, but the handle-owner stopped at that point. It is another of these very special and timeless cars like the GTI and Octavia VRS and it may be worth documenting all these cars in India. I estimate that there may be 400-500 of them sold so far in India, with very few more to come, before BMW stops selling these amazingly powerful and big-engined cars due to emission compliance.

[DIV17]

Originally Posted by omar

British Racing Green is one of my favourite colours! Would love to see how it looks on the GTI. Please do PM if you spot the car or have the registration details.

I actually managed to find an Instagram reel of the green GTI, you can see it below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct6pT...FtbGI5cWlzY2Zp

[omar]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Great effort, kudos to the enthusiast in you! The Polo GTI is ineeded a very special car and every time I pass one in Chennai, I cannot stop but look back at it. My family think I am crazy to stare at a Polo, especially one that has only 2 doors!! The Polo has that ageless design that still looks desirable after all these years.

A similar effort was being made to document all the BMW M340is in India. The handle on Instagram called "The M340i registry" documented the first 200 of these cars, but the handle-owner stopped at that point. It is another of these very special and timeless cars like the GTI and Octavia VRS and it may be worth documenting all these cars in India. I estimate that there may be 400-500 of them sold so far in India, with very few more to come, before BMW stops selling these amazingly powerful and big-engined cars due to emission compliance.

Glad to know we share the same enthusiasm for the car

It requires a lot of effort to document such cars. Kudos to the gentleman to document the m340i. The thing with the car is, it is still for sale. So the count is ever increasing!

I feel the cars below should be documented:

- VRS 230
- VRS 245
- Abarth Punto
- Abarth 595
- S60 Polestar

Any performance car from a mass market manufacturer essentially. Can even go in to the luxury/ exotic range. But very tough to find information on those, since they sold so few.

Originally Posted by DIV17

I actually managed to find an Instagram reel of the green GTI, you can see it below:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct6pT...FtbGI5cWlzY2Zp

Thank you for sharing. It looks quite good. Unfortunately can't make out if I have it on the list due to masked plates.