[ajmat]

Volkswagen hosted a Brand Conference in Kochi earlier this week. A significant reason for hosting it in Kochi was that Kerala is a leading market for the company.

Ashish Gupta, Brand Manager, presided over the event, which was used to emphasize Volkswagen's core DNA:

1. Safety
2. Build Quality
3. Fun to Drive

The brand values of the Volkswagen brand were described as stable, likeable and exciting. As a VAG group car owner, the likeability factor is an issue unless you avoid their dealer.

As for exciting, it is perceived to be such vis a vis its position with its Korean rivals. Volkswagen is the only brand with GT branded cars. As you read on, they are playing on this and coming out with various GT derivatives of their models.

Without naming anyone, they made a fun play on the Verna being influenced by the Virtus' styling. The Virtus leverages two factors - its wheelbase and its performance.

[ajmat]

The opportunity was used to launch some new variants to fill missing gaps in the product line-up. One gap was the absence of the 1.5 TSI MT. The 1.5 TSI MT was launched along with a new colour.

In the new Lava Blue shade:






Giving it the stick!

[ajmat]

New Deep Black colour for the GT Plus variants:

Virtus




Taigun




The only thing to worry about is that VAG black shades do not necessarily hold up to our conditions. The hard water and oxidization make the paint look distressed (based on my Skoda experience). Perhaps PPF would be a good investment.

[ajmat]

The Taigun Matte looked quite attractive. It is available in the GT Plus variant only. This colour is not available on the Virtus (that would look like a battleship in my opinion).

Again, Volkswagen should have experimented with another matte colour and not blindly copy Kia:








Wielding their sticker and accessories magic, Volkswagen rolled out the Taigun GT Trail. This is a plain GT MT on 16" wheels. It has the same ground clearance and black wheels which were earlier reserved for the Virtus.

Viewed from a distance, only the roof bars help to distinguish it from the regular Taigun:




"Trail" badge on the tailgate:


Some questionable stickers:


That's all there is. All it needs to do is have the roof bars stolen and the stickers removed and it would have lost the Trail!

[ajmat]

Although relegated to a corner, the most significant car was this Taigun GT Sport. It brings DSGs down to an affordable price point:


"Sport" means it comes with stripes:


Even the bonnet is not spared:


Black Roof:


Retains the funky interior:


This will be a winner. The interiors are quite funky. All it lacks is ventilated seats and a sunroof.

[ajmat]

So that's it folks! The only significant variation was the manual Virtus 1.5 TSI, the rest was a splash of new paint and some stickers!

Actually, no.

Volkswagen casually parked an ID4 at the hotel entrance. It was far from immaculately detailed and later, it disappeared. Either the dealers were being shown the car or it was to be used for an exclusive test drive. You'll read more about why the ID4 was lurking in the next post.





Rear looks very similar in style to the front:


Air intake for battery cooling:


Vertical fangs - Peugeot-like:


Short bonnet means lots of interior space:






Wheels look "Atto"esque:


Interior:

[ajmat]

Indian Market

• The sedan market is expected to grow 20% year on year. Last few months were dull due to the City facelift and the Verna launches
• The Virtus' differentiator is its performance within its segment
• Roughly 2,500 Taiguns are sold monthly. 30% are GTs
• The ratio of Auto to Manual is 50:50 for the Taigun and 55:45 for the Virtus
• Most people are looking at price points between Rs. 10 - 20 lakh. Then, there is nothing till Rs. 60 lakh
• The Rs. 10 lakh SUV is a misnomer. The Indian consumer will pay for a good feature-laden SUV up to Rs. 20 lakh. If VAG could do it again, they might have targeted a higher price point
• The consumer is more fixated on price points as opposed to the type of drive train

The Electric Market Future Pipeline

• The Rs. 20 lakh mass market electric car is the inflexion point. No one is there yet in India
• Expect VW electric cars around 2025, 2026 and 2027 when the Rs. 20 lakh mass market car becomes a reality. It all depends on the ability to source parts and getting the platform right for India (hot, humid, rough roads)
• The ID4 is highly viable and likely to come in early 2025. It needs to get the platform validated for Indian conditions.
• Volkswagen claims that it will be competitive as the size is similar to a Tiguan. The estimated ex-showroom cost will be Rs. 45 lakh in today’s money and it comes with more features. The current low import tariffs for electric components make this attractive.
• Strong component electric manufacturing capability but local battery assembly is the issue

Expect the following

• New Tiguan - early 2025
• Touareg facelift during this quarter (I am cynical about this, considering previous Touareg's performance) - later in 2023
• New T-Roc - 2025
• 7-seater MPV - 2025

VW spoke with confidence about bringing these models in, but my bets will be on the T-Roc and Tiguan.

Service

• Expanding to 182 showrooms, 140 service points in 130 cities
• Admittedly an issue due to previous issues of high costs and poor management focus
• Efforts made to reduce cost of ownership through better design, localisation, reduced prices and the 4-year warranty
• Customer satisfaction was a concern
• Monthly customer satisfaction is measured at 4.6/5 now as opposed to 3.9 a year ago

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Axe77]

Great report Ajmat. The EV plans and the proposed MPV in particular are exciting. Given they seem to be firmly past diesels, any indication if they will bring strong hybrids for higher end products. To the best of my knowledge, the latter are not a strong suite in their arsenal and it seems they will toggle between performance oriented petrols and EVs – not a bad combination either.

I hope the ID4, if at the 45L mark, is well specced on both power and range in the variant they launch here. It will make for an exciting proposition as its that sweet spot entry luxury price point - well above the relatively mass market MG ZS & similar and well below the big Germans / super spec products like EV6.

There are many who would appreciate a European offering at the value luxury price point as a middle path alternative to the Korean giants and the big Germans. I expect them to be nicer handling than the Koreans, comparably well-built to both the Koreans and the Germans and their relatively simpler EV architecture should also inspire better confidence compared to their niggle prone ICE counterparts.

[Maky]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Expect the following

• New Tiguan - early 2025
• Touareg facelift during this quarter (I am cynical about this, considering previous Touareg's performance) - later in 2023
• New T-Roc - 2025
• 7-seater MPV - 2025

VW spoke with confidence about bringing these models in, but my bets will be on the T-Roc and Tiguan.

I am very surprised about launch for the new Tiguan set for all the way in 2025. The next gen Tiguan is set to come out in end of 2023 in Europe as far as online indicators on final camo testing go.
I figured we would get it ~4-5 months later in April 2024 or so.. If one goes by Octavia International to Domestic launch from what I remember. Did they openly verbally confirm this to everyone ajmat?

And like you I too am apprehensive about the Touareg making a return to our market.

[07CR]

The MT variants for 1.5 is a great move. Anyone with a lot of highway driving, and no worries of the DSG can now consider the VW twins.

Regarding the colors while both new colors look good, I am worried how hot the cabin of the black virtus and taigun would be considering their pathetic ACs!

[Bhodrolok]

Great detailed post!

I had a question on the black Virtus was about its interiors, did it have the silver panels or red one?

[Venkatesh]

Interview with Ashish Gupta, Brand Director Volkswagen India, talks on the new variants of Virtus and Taigun and Volkswagen's move to electrification.

https://youtu.be/CCOO_Da2gaQ

[Sunderdeep]

Got a chance to be in this event on the 17th and 18th after an invite from VW. Had a discussion with Ashish Gupta two times, one off-camera and the other on-camera which is published on my Youtube channel.

Management seems to be very happy with the numbers even when we as a customer feel that these numbers are not sustainable especially how the competition is heating up. He highly praised the existing top-selling players for understanding the Indian customer's pulse and delivering what they want. Discussed the complexity involved for under 4m Polo, 6 Airbags as standard, AT in Base variants, and soft-touch materials in the top trims.

He assured meaningful updates in the future too, to sustain the numbers and focus more on customer satisfaction in the after-sales service for this year.

It really felt great to be among known auto journalists as a customer and Team-BHPian while covering the event.

[100Kmphormore]

It's as expected like the earlier Rapid editions - Onyx, Monte Carlo and what not.