The upcoming Volkswagen Polo sedan will be called the Vento and will be launched in July priced at Rs. 7-9 lakhs. The Vento is an important model for VW and the company hopes to sell 25,000 units every year once production is on full throttle. The Vento (code: VW251) shares a common platform with the Polo and are similar upto the B-pillar, except for a different grille and lights to differentiate it from its hatchback sibling. The Vento’s has been extended by an roughly 50mm for better legroom at the rear. Headroom too will be better as the roof doesn’t taper down as sharply as in the hatch. Boot space is expected to be in the region of 500 litres with a split seat option on offer. Equipment levels are expected to be higher than in the Polo and the top-of-the-line version could get some of the features from the Jetta.
The Vento will initially get a petrol and a diesel engine displacing 1.6 liters and producing 105bhp each. However, the diesel boasts of a mind blowing 25.5kgm of torque to the petrol motor’s 15.8kgm. Like in the Jetta, the petrol motor in the Vento is a naturally aspirated unit but it’s more advanced. While the Jetta’s 1.6 motor had two valves per cylinder driven off a single cam, the Vento has a four-valve head and double overhead camshafts. VW is likely to introduce the same engine in the Indian Polo after the Vento is launched. The 1.6 common-rail diesel is brand new and comes from the same engine family as the 1.2 turbo-diesel that powers the Polo and the bigger 2-litre diesel under the hood of the Jetta. Both the petrol and diesel will come with five-speed manual transmissions initially but a DSG ’box in the top-end diesel maybe introduced at a later stage.
Source – ACI