Volkswagen to launch Polo facelift on July 15

German carmaker, Volkswagen will launch the Polo facelift in India on July 15, 2014.

The facelifted Polo gets changes to its exterior in line with the European Polo. At the front there are redesigned headlamps, a new grille with a chrome strip running along the base and a restyled front bumper with a larger air dam and new fog lamps. At the rear is a pair of revised tail lamps, a new bumper with a reflector at each end and different number plate housing. The car also rides on redesigned alloy wheels. For India, Volkswagen has left out certain features that the European version is equipped with including LED daytime running lights and turn indicators on the ORVMs.

On the inside, the Polo gets a new multi-function steering wheel with piano black detailing and a centre console with matte silver inserts. No other changes have been made to the interior of the car.

The Polo facelift is likely to be offered with a choice of three engines - 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol, 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder petrol (GT TSI variant) and a new 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel. The diesel engine is expected to be offered in 89 bhp and 104 bhp (GT TDI variant) states of tune. The 1.6-litre diesel motor from the current model will be dropped from the line-up.

In India, the Polo and its sedan sibling, the Vento, have not done as well as Volkswagen would have liked it to. As a result the company has had to lower its targeted market share from 20% by 2018 to 7-8%. With the facelift, the company will hope that customer interest in the hatchback is revived.