[pratyaksh]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Not sure if the T Roc will be continued once the Taigun is launched but I think higher end products will continue to be imported as long as the 2500 unit scheme lasts.

Performance / built / TSI aside, do we really trust these brands to provide spares, and service for these cars 10-15 years down. With already shoddy brand reputation for service, I would hardly be surprised if the Indian Junta is left in a lurch by these companies that have hardly shown any love for our shores, as they have only thrown regurgitated European/Western specs here (read, also latest Citroen C5). The gear lever placement itself speaks volumes about their left hand characteristics. I would be surprised if people overlook such a slap-in-the-face placement!
Do enlighten us Bhpians; of how you plan to keep this great engine/gearbox maintained after 10+ years? (Just following the trend here to keep cars longer )
Not just that, do these companies keep enough stock of spares for breakdowns etc. for such a small number of units on road. For smaller cities that get maybe 1 or 2 units assigned, it must be some task for the ASS to keep this lad happy.
Did people manage to get test rides of T-roc et al. I wonder if it was anything more than an online purchase what with Covid-19 also prevalent during its launch.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Hi Folks- Was in the market for changing my Vento AT TSI as its done 75k on the odometer and its been five years. Last year due to the pandemic, I had to postpone my buying decision, but had paid a booking advance with Sundaram VW in Chennai. Since, I did not go ahead, they refunded my advance and I had indicated that I will buy in the next year. The SA called me and updated that bookings have started and I can book for the new T-roc. He told me that on road prices could be around INR 27-28 Lacs. Last year it was around INR 24.5 L
Not sure if any one has got a call. Also given that VW is planning an another SUV (apart from the Tiagun) which I understand from Ashish Gupta's interview, do you think its worth waiting to see if its some thing which will come with the 2L TSI. Between, I have also paid a booking advance for Jeep Compass 4*4 80th Anniversary edition and am awaiting a test drive car from the dealership. Since, I have not owned any other car apart from Polo and Vento, am little confused. The urge to book the compass was I wanted a compact SUV with AWD.

[SBM3J]

Originally Posted by Lalitha Venkat

Hi Folks- Was in the market for changing my Vento AT TSI as its done 75k on the odometer and its been five years. Last year due to the pandemic, I had to postpone my buying decision, but had paid a booking advance with Sundaram VW in Chennai. Since, I did not go ahead, they refunded my advance and I had indicated that I will buy in the next year. The SA called me and updated that bookings have started and I can book for the new T-roc. He told me that on road prices could be around INR 27-28 Lacs. Last year it was around INR 24.5 L
Not sure if any one has got a call. Also given that VW is planning an another SUV (apart from the Tiagun) which I understand from Ashish Gupta's interview, do you think its worth waiting to see if its some thing which will come with the 2L TSI. Between, I have also paid a booking advance for Jeep Compass 4*4 80th Anniversary edition and am awaiting a test drive car from the dealership. Since, I have not owned any other car apart from Polo and Vento, am little confused. The urge to book the compass was I wanted a compact SUV with AWD.

T-Roc price is 21.35L ex showroom with the same exact feature list as the last time. It’s 1.36L increase without any additional features. It’s missing some key features like wireless charging, wireless CarPlay/android auto, ventilated seats(it has heated seats and heated mirrors which are pointless in most of India though).

But that being said, it’s a unique offering in Indian market and is a CBU. It has an amazing look and driving dynamics.

Compared to compass this will be small and if you are looking for an SUV like compass T-Roc won’t be the best choice. T-ROC is a crossover which is closer to golf than to Tiguan.

The SUV VW is bringing in is most likely is the 5 seater Tiguan, so it won’t be a bad idea to wait for that before jumping the gun.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by pratyaksh

Performance / built / TSI aside, do we really trust these brands to provide spares, and service for these cars 10-15 years down. With already shoddy brand reputation for service, I would hardly be surprised if the Indian Junta is left in a lurch by these companies that have hardly shown any love for our shores, as they have only thrown regurgitated European/Western specs here (read, also latest Citroen C5). The gear lever placement itself speaks volumes about their left hand characteristics. I would be surprised if people overlook such a slap-in-the-face placement!
Do enlighten us Bhpians; of how you plan to keep this great engine/gearbox maintained after 10+ years? (Just following the trend here to keep cars longer )
Not just that, do these companies keep enough stock of spares for breakdowns etc. for such a small number of units on road. For smaller cities that get maybe 1 or 2 units assigned, it must be some task for the ASS to keep this lad happy.
Did people manage to get test rides of T-roc et al. I wonder if it was anything more than an online purchase what with Covid-19 also prevalent during its launch.

I kind of agree with your some of concerns. I owned a Polo 1.6 MPI manual which was purchased some time during December 2010. The car had several imported components and the localization for the Polo started some where in 2012. Due some freak accident, my petrol tank was hit and all the petrol drained and it had to be replaced. The service guys told me that petrol tank was from Hungary and they had to order and get it. I was without a car for around 45 days. But after a week writing to the sales guys at VW and speaking with some from VW Corporate, I got a Tata Indica with a driver for 12 hours a day from a local travels guy as my replacement car. At that time they did not have even a replacement or spare care. This would have covered 25 days of the 45 days, I was without the car. With a lot of electronics on the Troc, it may be an issue on how quickly we can get the car running back if there is any failure or part damage as they cant take it from production line also. All said that 1.6 Polo was very peppy and planted car which used to very stable at even at 150-160 kms. Never have regretted even once the decision to buy the car. May be the quality of drive would have ensured that first batch was fully sold out, though I have not test driven the car

[yd_gli]

I was at the VW showroom to test drive the Allspace. The sales rep mentioned that the T-Roc is arriving end of next month at an OTR ~ 27L. He claimed that he has been receiving 2-3 bookings everyday day for the last two weeks or so. There are enough people who will shell out a premium for a CBU. The fact that people are booking without even seeing the car in flesh confirms this.

I still don't have faith that VW will provide spares at an affordable price and reasonable turn around time for these CBUs a few years after they are discontinued. My primary reason for not wanting to put down close ~ 40L on the Allspace.

[Gannu_1]

I just went through an ownership review of the T-Roc and stumbled upon the fact that cruise control is missing! And heated seats being provided! I think VW really needs to look into the feature list that makes it to the Indian cars. Cruise control is very useful for highway drives and prospective owners might miss this feature on a 25 lakh car.

[Lalitha Venkat]

Originally Posted by SourPai

Honestly I do not understand this. With Taigun slated to launch later in the year, what is the point in selling T-Roc at higher price now?

Taigun will be at least 2-3L lesser with same dimensions and same engine. Not sure how is this making sense for prospective buyers of T-Roc, unless of-course Taigun is also positioned at 20L ex-showroom. I guess the only difference is foreign made vs India made in this case

Infact, I asked the SA the same thing, and he told me that Taigun's pricing would be around INR 12 L- INR 18 L based on his sources. Kushaq's release is going to be in March and that will set the benchmark at which Taigun is going to be priced. That made sense to me as if VW group aims for a 5% market share in the next five years, they need to have products between INR 10-15L in the SUV segment which will drive volumes and could possibly get them there. Now the engine spec of 1.5L TSI - may not be the driver for price as 1.5L TSI is also on the Tiguan 5 seater in the European markets. If that is going to come to India, that may be priced around INR 28-30 Lacs as per posts I have read. May be they will add AWD and other bells and whistles which may justify the price to some extent. But the fact they sold 2,500 vehicles is factual as they did not have any thing to sell in December/ January in Chennai. I asked couple of Dealership's out side of Tamil Nadu and all replied in the negative. They did not have a TD vehicle also.

[krishnakarthik1]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

And heated seats being provided!

Just shows how arrogant the brand is and the kind of respect it has for our market. The CEO should be made to travel with heated seats on in our cities traffic.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by krishnakarthik1

Just shows how arrogant the brand is and the kind of respect it has for our market. The CEO should be made to travel with heated seats on in our cities traffic.

Heated seats does not mean the seats are heated all the time - you have to turn it on, and they would be useful on a trip to Ladakh or Himachal. Agree cooled seats would be better - but no one is going to redesign a car for a market with demand for a 1000 units.

If the Taigun came with heated seats instead of cooled ones, cribbing would be justified. For an import where they are taking the same car they would sell in the UK and selling it in India, you have to take the rough with the smooth. Don’t like it, don’t buy it.

[dhruvlath]

VW may have offered an introductory price for the last batch of imports and soon realised that there are people willing to pay the price for a full import. The sample size however is too small and the market too niche for a brand like VW to worry about who clearly wants a bigger share in the Indian market. Instead of increasing prices their objective should be to cater to the customers who wanted to buy it the first time and couldn’t get their hands on one. It also keeps the showrooms busy while the Taigun is launched. Strengthening sales and service is another major area for them to work on if they really want to be a serious contender in the Indian market.

[pandatrooper]

The only reason I abandoned the idea of purchasing the T-Roc was its price tag. With appalling after sales service in non-metropolitan cities, I felt investing in an VW would be a big gamble. Otherwise, I was really impressed with the TD of the T-Roc. Excellent build quality associated with the amazing driving dynamics tempted me to the core.

Not sure how an increase in Rs.1.36 L would help VW's cause. Instead of addressing the pricing of the vehicle [ which was whined by all reviewers alike ], they just decided to embrace it with open arms. Maybe, the company is trying to milk their finances by trying to tap the animal spirits of the prospective Indian buyers.

[AKSarkar1]

Rather interesting strategy being used here by VW. I think such a pricing would make more sense if the T-Roc was offered at the top of the line R-Line spec or given with features that aren't there on Indian spec cars.

Being a VW owner and loyal consumer myself, even I don't think I would be at peace with myself paying that much of a premium for this car. I would rather put that money to better use buying either a pre-worshipped Benz or a more practical Innova like car.

[Annibaddh]

On Road Prices in Delhi:

T Roc: 23.29L
Safari XZ Plus: 23.89

Enough said.

[troika]

And it still doesn't have cruise control am guessing.

[Clouseau]

Originally Posted by Hayek

Heated seats does not mean the seats are heated all the time - you have to turn it on, and they would be useful on a trip to Ladakh or Himachal. Agree cooled seats would be better - but no one is going to redesign a car for a market with demand for a 1000 units.

If the Taigun came with heated seats instead of cooled ones, cribbing would be justified. For an import where they are taking the same car they would sell in the UK and selling it in India, you have to take the rough with the smooth. Don’t like it, don’t buy it.

What amazes me is the personal affront we take when features are missing/irrelevant when (as mentioned in a different thread) some of the top cars we bought last year have a ZERO safety rating (see below). Where do our priorities lie folks? Don't think I'm being preachy cos we also have a Kwid

Cheers!

Below are NCAP Ratings of Various Indian Cars sold

Hatchback NCAP Safety Crash Test Rating NCAP Agency Additional Comment
Tata Nano 0 Star Global Unstable
Hyundai Eon without Airbag 0 Star Global Unstable
Maruti Alto 0 Star Global Unstable
Maruti Eeco 0 Star Global Unstable
Maruti S Presso 0 Star Global Unstable
Datsun Go with Driver Side Airbag 1 Star Global Unstable
Renault Kwid with / without Airbag 0 Star Global Unstable
Maruti Celerio 0 Star Global Unstable
Hyundai Grand i10 without Airbag (1st Generation) 0 Star Global Test irrelevant as GRand i10 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen Nios on Sale whose NCAP crash test rating yet to be done