German carmaker Volkswagen has marked their foray into the highly competitive sub-4 metre sedan category with the launch of Volkswagen Ameo.
The Ameo compact sedan is all set to compete against established rivals like the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Hyundai Xcent, Honda Amaze and Tata Zest. Considering this to be a highly competitive territory in terms of both sales and success for the brand, the idea of launching a car in this category normally becomes irresistible for any manufacturer. The Ameo, churning out of Volkswagen’s Chakan plant is designed and developed to perform for the Indian market.
The Ameo compact sedan which is a part of the company’s Auto Expo 2016 lineup is expected to go on sale in the second half of 2016. With the highest level of localization amongst its stable mates and being developed solely for Indian conditions, it goes on to show the commitment Volkswagen has taken forward towards the Indian market. The car is based on the Volkswagen Polo hatchback, which is immediately noticeable from the almost similar front fascia, near identical profiles but there are clues of Volkswagen’s Vento when you start observing the rear of the sedan. It will share the 1.2-litre MPI petrol and the 1.5-litre TDI diesel engines with the Polo hatchback and get an option of DSG gearbox.
Despite similarities with the family products, certain new elements do add up to differentiate the Ameo starting with a new front bumper, headlamp and tail-lamp unit and a redesigned Volkswagen family air dam with a touch of chrome. The interiors wouldn’t take you by surprise; the Volkswagen family styling gets carried over with several elements being borrowed from the Vento and Polo’s parts cabin, which is a nice thing because we have always loved the premiumness and the higher levels of quality. The leather wrapped multi-functional steering wheel is a pleasure to hold on to sitting on the comfortable front seats.
Apart from offering the familiar levels of build quality and driving pleasure associated with Volkswagen family cars, the Ameo promises to be equipped with complete safety and some best-in-class features like ABS and dual airbags as standard feature across all variants, rear view camera with parking sensors, lane change indicator, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, touchscreen infotainment system with Mirror link and I-pod connectivity, “Climatronic” automatic AC, cooled glove box, electronically controlled ORVM, electronic anti-theft immobilizer and defogger.
Volkswagen Ameo
– Will compete with DZire, Figo Aspire, Zest, Xcent and Amaze
– Comes with the same engines as the Polo
– Comes with standard dual airbags and ABS
