Volkswagen won’t offer any products in the sub 4-metre sedan segment post 2020.
Volkswagen launched the Ameo in the Indian market in 2016 and this sub 4-metre sedan was engineered specially for our market. Compact sedans with engines lesser than 1500cc in capacity get tax benefits and hence this segment is quite lucrative, and VW wanted to be a part of it too.
The Volkswagen Ameo was launched to be positioned between the Polo and Vento and it comes with the same set of engines as its siblings. The only major difference the Ameo has is its boot which is bigger than the Polo and smaller than the Vento.
The compact sedan isn’t faring very nicely when compared to rivals. At a time when cars like the Maruti Dzire (~20,000 units), Honda Amaze (~8000 units), Tata Tigor (~2200 units) and Hyundai Xcent (~2100 units) are fetching good sales numbers, the Ameo is averaging out at ~750-900 sales a month, with total sales of 9800 units in 2018.
In 2018, the Volkswagen Ameo’s sales dropped by 40% despite the fact that the compact sedan segment grew by 14%. The company has stated that they won’t do any products like the Ameo in the future because according to them a sub 4-metre sedan only works when its hatchback counterpart is significantly lesser than 4-metres in length.
While Skoda/VW have ruled out entry-level sedans, they haven’t ruled out the possibility of entry-level hatchbacks and SUVs for the Indian market.
Volkswagen Entry Level Sedans
– Volkswagen to exit sub 4-metre sedan segment in 2020
– They won’t launch any such entry-level sedans again
– Entry-level hatchbacks and SUVs aren’t ruled out
Source – ETAuto.com
