Volkswagen might still be undecided on the launch of the Up! hatchback for India but that does not stop them form driving around the cheapest vehicle from their stable in and around Pune. The German automaker will come to a conclusion by the end of the year, whether they will bring the Volkswagen Up! to India. The company is facing the issue of pricing the Up! competitively in India and hence has not gone ahead with bringing the vehicle to the country. Now both 3 and 5-door versions of the Volkswagen Up! hatchback were spotted in Pune, without any camouflage whatsoever.
Now the obvious question which arises is why the German automaker has not pasted any camouflage on the Up! The reason is simple. The company has not started testing the VW Up! for the Indian market yet. Instead these right hand drive versions have been brought to India to gauge the costs of manufacturing the Up! The vehicle could be shown to suppliers to take estimates from them and thereby decide if its feasible to launch the Up!. This exercise can take quite some time and an Indian launch is still quite some time away.
If and when Volkswagen decides to launch the Up! in the Indian market, the company will give it the 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder engines from the Polo hatchback. These engines are not the most refined or powerful in the segment but offer good fuel economy, which is imperative for the success of a car in India. The Up! should be positioned in the Rs. 4-6 lakh bracket.
The Volkswagen Up! spotted seems to be a the base variant, as it does not feature alloy wheels and body coloured door handles. Furthermore the interiors clearly give away the Up! variant to be the base trim as there are no power windows present. The interiors are beige, which give the Up! a very airy feel but the dusty conditions in India don’t favor beige interiors much. The Volkswagen Up! does have huge potential in the Indian market but heavily localization and aggressive pricing is extremely important to make it a success.
Spy Pictures Source – Team-BHP
