Team-BHP - Volkswagen Polo : Test Drive & Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilead (Post 1775206)

There is a VW stall at my office today and I just had a look at the Polo for the first time. The car looks fantastic on the outside. The punto just lost the 'best looking hatch' title as far as I am concerned. I was happy to see that it does not have weird 'frog eyes' like headlights.

The interiors were a big letdown though. It does not look like a 'global platform' as aseem puts it. It reeks of cost cutting. I have not seen the Figo, but if it has Fiesta like interiors, the Figo's interiors can be considered better overall.

aseem: The Polo interiors actually reminded me of Maruti. And as far as brand value of VW in India is concerned, it is pretty near to zero. Let's discuss VW vs. Ford brand value a couple of years from now.

If Polo interiors remind you or Maruti, you maybe in for a rude shock when you look at the interiors of Figo, you might end up comparing them to that of Tata.

Lets come back and revisit this argument when you take a look at the interiors of Figo to have a meaningful discussion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyWalker (Post 1775234)

What exactly is the engine premium a 1.2L 3 pot deisel Polo commands over a 1.4L TDCi Figo? :Shockked:

Here's from GTO in the beginning of the thread...

Brand is subjective. The only credit that VW has in India is that it is a German car. SO far Jetta/Passat has been nothing but big duds in our market.

I am not comparing the engines as there are too many equations. The petrol Figo gives less mileage has less bhp figures. The diesel engine too of Figo has less bhp and I am not sure about FE. The 0-100 of Figo vs Polo for Petrol and to some extent diesel does tell a story. Than there is the argument of 4 pot vs 3 pot, refinement, noise, longevity etc.

Thats why I am not putting the engines into equation as frankly speaking both VW and Figo have been downers in this department and their engines have left a lot to be desired.

joshdrive, I have no doubt that the Polo is better looking than the Figo as far as exterior looks are concerned. I love the grill and the headlights. :)

aseem: The Polo just about makes it into the 'premium' hatch segment solely based on it's looks and size. If I were in the market for a premium hatch, I would stick to the i20, Jazz, or maybe even the Figo, since I would be spending most of my time inside the car rather than drooling at it from the outside. I agree I have not seen the Figo yet, but most reviewers including GTO agree that it has parts borrowed from the Fiesta. My Fiesta 1.6S' black, grey and silver interiors are far better and more solid than what the Polo offers.

All those who are expecting Fabia like interiors on the Polo will be sorely disappointed. The Fabia still has one of the classiest interiors among all the hatches being sold at the moment.

Guys

I did not intend to start a Polo Vs Figo fight. I still believe they are from different segments like I have stated below.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiku007 (Post 1774654)

I don't think the Polo and Figo are competitors directly (Check out the comparison sheets in the Figo TD thread-Even Ford is not bringing Polo to the picture). BUT there's a HUGE price difference between the respective diesel variants of Figo and Polo. Does the Polo offer the customer enough to justify this price difference?

The reply that Polo is B+ and Figo is B wouldn't cut ice.

The question is, how is VW going to justify the positioning/pricing of the Polo diesel?

See we have two entirely opp views (lambo and trapezio) here. This is the state of the car buyer now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by lamborghini (Post 1774729)

The Polo and Figo are in the same segment in terms of dimensions.
The fact remains that after the Figo, the Polo doesn't offer the consumer any more than a VW badge in comparison to the Figo, which is more spacious, and much cheaper!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trapezio (Post 1774894)

VW Polo: 3970 x 1682 x 1453
Ford Figo:3795 x 1680 x 1427

The Polo is bigger dimensionally in every sense.

The Ford Figo dimensionally competes with Swift, Ritz, Aveo, Palio and Indica Vista

The VW Polo dimensionally competes with GP, Jazz, i20, and Fabia

Hope this clears the confusion once and for all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aseem (Post 1775134)

Wouldnt cut ice with you, and you are not entitled to buy it.

However comparing global platform based Polo to a made for India platform of Figo is like comparing apples with oranges. Polo's fit and finish, interiors, build is miles ahead of the dated looks of Figo. Figo's looks are at best average and the interiors remind you of the by gone era and can be best compared to Estillo. I am not even comparing the FE, engines and the brand premium that VW badge commands over Ford.

Ford has done a clever job with pricing only by bringing in an old car based on Fiesta's earlier platform in a new avtaar that shares parts from cars dating back to Ikon and Fusion. Its a new car but it already looks 5 years old. It would have been sucidal to price it anywhere near 4 lakhs for petrol and 5 lakhs for diesel for entry level, Ford knows it, and therefore priced it accordingly.

Its now a good upgrade for those considering Santro, Wagon-R to have a look at Figo (get a much bigger car). It would be interesting to see how Figo's sales compare to that of Beat Petrol and whether it would be able to carve out a space for itself in an already crowded B segment.

Excellent reply aseem. This is what I want to know. Let's take it this way, Ford has priced the Figo competitevly;but that doesn't mean every other manufacturer is overpriced. Now we all know how value consious the Indian consumer is. We know he chooses a Dzire even though it looks odd. So what is VW's trump card?

3 of my friends are shopping for a hatch. They are not BHPians and not so much into cars. They check out the Polo and Figo with the same requirements. The Ford showroom guy is just using one line, "Sir the Figo Diesel is a Ford Fiesta with some 200 Ltrs of lesser boot space" Now fiesta is older but that doesn't seem to matter to my friends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilead (Post 1775206)

The interiors were a big letdown though. It does not look like a 'global platform' as aseem puts it. It reeks of cost cutting. I have not seen the Figo, but if it has Fiesta like interiors, the Figo's interiors can be considered better overall.

aseem: The Polo interiors actually reminded me of Maruti. And as far as brand value of VW in India is concerned, it is pretty near to zero. Let's discuss VW vs. Ford brand value a couple of years from now.

Conflicting views on the interiors again! Jury is yet to be out then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyWalker (Post 1775234)

Exactly! If the Polo diesel is competing with the i20 then this is a issue right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilead (Post 1775270)

aseem: The Polo just about makes it into the 'premium' hatch segment solely based on it's looks and size. If I were in the market for a premium hatch, I would stick to the i20, Jazz, or maybe even the Figo, since I would be spending most of my time inside the car rather than drooling at it from the outside. I agree I have not seen the Figo yet, but most reviewers including GTO agree that it has parts borrowed from the Fiesta. My Fiesta 1.6S' black, grey and silver interiors are far better and more solid than what the Polo offers.

The parts of interiors for A-Star are borrowed from Grand Vitara/SX4/Swift (steering etc), does that mean that the interiors of A-Star are as contemperary or nearly in the same league as that of GV. For that matters Ikon to shares interior parts with Fiesta and Fiesta shares some with Mondeo. But that doesnt mean that Mondeo and Fiesta are nearly in the same league interior wise.

Making statements merely reading a review and than equating it to make an argument is very subjective and throws all objectivity out the window. As suggested earlier I request you to see Figo in person, have a touch and feel of the plastic before making a statement.

At the end of the day, seeing is believing. I am pasting below the pics of Fiesta interiors and Figo interiors for your reference:

Quote:

Originally Posted by aseem (Post 1775415)

Making statements merely reading a review and than equating it to make an argument is very subjective and throws all objectivity out the window. As suggested earlier I request you to see Figo in person, have a touch and feel of the plastic before making a statement.

I agree. :thumbs up

I have seen the i20, Jazz and Fabia in person, so I guess I can compare the Polo interiors with them. Other than the look and feel of the glove box, the Polo comes nowhere close to the other three as far as interiors are concerned. The glove box is the only thing that feels premium. The look and feel of the steering wheel on the Polo is especially pathetic and the gear knob feels cheap. The Fabia probably has the best interiors in this class.

Other than the external looks, the Polo has no real USP at the moment.

i20/Jazz/Fabia: Better interiors than Polo
Figo: Lower price than Polo
Indica: More space than Polo

And I am willing to bet that the Figo and i20 diesel engines are better than the Polo's diesel, though you said engines should not be compared.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilead (Post 1775464)

I agree that i20/Jazz/Fabia have better interiors than Polo. Interesting! Now here is a look at Carwale prices of the 3 cars (base model petrol):

Volkswagen Polo 1.2L Trendline (P): 4,53,530

Ford Fabia Active: 5,08,084

Hyundai i20 Magna: 5,13,371

Honda Jazz: Lets not go here :Frustrati

You do the maths.

As far as diesel i20 engine is concerned I didnt even compare it nor do I want to be drawn into that argument.

I am not here to state that Polo has the best engine offering, as it sure doesnt. But on paper the 3 pot CRDI mill has better FE, 0-100 and max bhp compared to the 1.4 TDCI doing duty on virtually every Ford offered here. Of course Figo would be better than Polo in some aspects just as A Star maybe better than Figo in some aspects. Thats a trade-off that you have to do when you buy a product as no product is perfect.

To conclude this lengthy argument the discussion was does Polo deserve the premium over Figo... Imo it clearly does. I would put my money on Polo over Figo. If I was in market with Figo budget I would definitely give a strong look to Beat as I find Figo an altoish attempt at Indian middle class by Ford and not a global product that you would like to own.

Lets see the current situation in Bangalore
My friend wants a TD of the Polo- he is told please come to the showroom, cannot arrange at your location
- The people who booked earlier are going to start getting in the next week, now who book will get in AUGUST at the most.
My question- what is VW trying to do here? Do they have no idea what numbers to expect?
IN a Metro like bangalore where any idiot can say that the bookings will be higher and demand for TD more, they are refusing to come to customer location?
I talked to someone in the auto industry on this and he was saying
" its like starting a pao-bhaaji stall and not having enough stuff for your customers who want to eat, ask them to wait!!!"
They are advertising the car big time, why not back it up with enough to support prospective buyers?
Weird!!! Anyways, i for one, if need the car, am not going to wait for 3-4 months, its not worth THAT MUCH as is obvious from reports and TD's( c'mon VW - you are not selling a dezire, the only sedan sub 6 lacs till a while back that you can expect a backlog of orders)
Guess some people have STILL not learnt from others. Best of luck to them and they can maintain the DIE HARD VW fans who will book and wait for 3-4 months to get their cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aseem (Post 1775524)

To conclude this lengthy argument the discussion was does Polo deserve the premium over Figo... Imo it clearly does. I would put my money on Polo over Figo. If I was in market with Figo budget I would definitely give a strong look to Beat as I find Figo an altoish attempt at Indian middle class by Ford and not a global product that you would like to own.

I guess VW has also targetted the Polo at the bulging Indian middle class. Prime reasons why it comes with average engines with focus on FE and at fairly reasonable price. Unfortunately for VW, their offering has turned out to be neither premium nor VFM. Its at best a very average offering. Except the looks nothing is outstanding. To add to it, Figo has made price of VW Polo from reasonable to over priced. That said with Figo budget for a petrol, I would also look at funky Beat. But I have not been a fan of tall boys and would prefer a Fords ride and handling over Chevys looks. Personally, nothing excites me, I would rather wait for these Punto Sport, Figo 1.6 and Polo 1.6.