[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by chncar

There is the small matter of actually manufacturing it.

True, but it is not as though they don't do that elsewhere in the world already.

I guess none of us is unique... so can I be the only person with a great interest in the Polo for whom anticipation is turning to boredom?

[hpzone]

Originally Posted by tazmaan

Pricing has to be in the i20 category else you can see it go the Fabia way! Only drool no sales!

How can you expect Polo to be priced below Fabia? It s priced atleast 20% above Fabia anywhere in the world. Only option is to scale down fabia to Punto range!

[hrmanju1]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

True, but it is not as though they don't do that elsewhere in the world already.

I guess none of us is unique... so can I be the only person with a great interest in the Polo for whom anticipation is turning to boredom?

Well, i started following up on the Polo front from the day VW had this huge ad in TOI. Yeah, the marketing blitzkrieg worked on me. So my anticipation is still in the upswing. If not for the team-bhp scoops, i will wait for the Auto Expo to get the exact engine specs for the Indian market.

Polo Hatch Specs Desired:

A/T - 1.2 L TSI - Red Polo - ABS - AirBags - No Beige Interiors - No Navigation - No Rear View Mirror LED - Cost: 7-8 Lacs

Release: January End,2009

Is this possible? Or am i dreaming?

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by hpzone

How can you expect Polo to be priced below Fabia? It s priced atleast 20% above Fabia anywhere in the world.

Yes it is, but in India, a hatch market over eight lakh is non existent. Unfortunate, but true. So if they can't get it within that, it won't sell. I doubt if VW cares about the Fabia. The Jetta and Laura tread on each other's toes without problems and the same will happen here. So expect a rather downgraded Polo at Fabia/i20/Jazz prices.

[crackingride]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

True, but it is not as though they don't do that elsewhere in the world already.

I guess none of us is unique... so can I be the only person with a great interest in the Polo for whom anticipation is turning to boredom?

Not really; you can add me to the list, with boredom extending to pessimism and disappointment.
For people who have been following this from the previous generation Polo, its not the recent full page ad that has got us looking at the brand. But the reasons we were looking in the first place seem to be vanishing into thin air.
Its the simple things that are getting to me: doing away with LED turn indicators, the changes to the head and tail light clusters, stuff like that. I know of no other manufacturer who is doing this with a model launched in the country. If it looks one way elsewhere, that's usually what we get here. VW is on some cost cutting trip, and I would not want one for that precise reason. I'd rather go with something else.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Yes it is, but in India, a hatch market over eight lakh is non existent. Unfortunate, but true. So if they can't get it within that, it won't sell. I doubt if VW cares about the Fabia. The Jetta and Laura tread on each other's toes without problems and the same will happen here. So expect a rather downgraded Polo at Fabia/i20/Jazz prices.

Agreed, there is no ways that any hatch can be priced above the Fabia and sell well. E.g Jazz : Stagnated sales of around 700, heck they sell more of their city than the jazz. So the Polo will be priced lesser than the fabia.

Originally Posted by hrmanju1

Well, i started following up on the Polo front from the day VW had this huge ad in TOI. Yeah, the marketing blitzkrieg worked on me. So my anticipation is still in the upswing. If not for the team-bhp scoops, i will wait for the Auto Expo to get the exact engine specs for the Indian market.

Polo Hatch Specs Desired:

A/T - 1.2 L TSI - Red Polo - ABS - AirBags - No Beige Interiors - No Navigation - No Rear View Mirror LED - Cost: 7-8 Lacs

Release: January End,2009

Is this possible? Or am i dreaming?

Yes you are Dreaming.
No TSI yet.
ABS YES:
AirBags: yes:
Beige Interiors: Yes,
Navigation : No
Cost : should be around the i20 space.

Originally Posted by twinblades

I don't think the cost of the Fabia will be reduced any further. Although I think it would be amazing if they do reduce the price and put a powerful engine in the Polo and price it a little more than i20.

yeah but the reson people are not buying the skodas are different, after sales is a big big big issue with Skoda. Though they claim they are putting their house in order, one has to wait and see.

And if one reads the below link, they clearly say that the car is positioned against the Swift. So if swift is the competition, the pricing should be around the Swift price.

Cheers
ac

Volkswagen's Polo to compete with Swift, i10 Business Standard : August 20, 2009 Volkswagen India (VW) will launch its first small car, the Polo, in the domestic market in the early part of 2010. The car will be priced and positioned in line with the A2 compact car category, which includes models such as Maruti’s Swift & Ritz, and be built on a new platform. The Polo will be made at the company’s new manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune, with locally sourced auto components being about 50 per cent.

“The all-new platform for the Polo has been designed keeping Indian road conditions in mind. The Polo will be benchmarked against the market leader in this segment, which is Maruti Suzuki’s Swift. The broad positioning for the Polo would revolve around communicating Polo’s German engineering pedigree, adapted for the domestic market,” says Neeraj Garg, Director, Passenger Cars Division, of the VW Group. Garg says the wait to launch the Polo is well-timed, since by next year, car manufacturers like Nissan, Toyota and Ford would unveil their compact cars in the premium A2 segment. The Polo would be available in the petrol and the diesel engine variant.

VW’s strategy in the compact segment, according to Garg, would be launching variants of the Polo initially. “Later, we would consider launching other VW brands, as long as there’s demand in the market. We hope to sell around 30,000 units in 2010. Then, by 2014, we hope to cross the 100,000 mark, by which time the car market in India would have crossed two million units.” Garg added the VW Golf, another compact car brand, will not be launched in the country until 2010. VW sold around 1,500 units of passenger vehicles in calendar 2008, and hopes to double the amount in 2009.

Till date, VW India has invested Rs 3,800 crore in setting up its operations in India. The facility at Chakan has an annual capacity of up to 110,000 cars on a single shift. Till this production capacity is reached, said garg, there would be no more fresh investments.

On the issue of Porsche becoming a part of the Volkswagen Group, Garg said Porsche will continue to be sold as a premium luxury car. “Porsche will not lose its identity. We are brand sensitive. It ‘s too early to say how the domestic operations of Porsche will be affected by this move.”
Industry executives say the premium A2 car segment (hatchback) comprising models like the Swift and Hyundai’s i10 & i20 has grown by around 20 per cent between January to June this year, while the A1 and the entry A2 models have registered either declining sales (Maruti 800) or slower growth than the premium A2 segment.

[hrmanju1]

Originally Posted by ac 427

Yes you are Dreaming.
No TSI yet.
ABS YES:
AirBags: yes:
Beige Interiors: Yes,
Navigation : No
Cost : should be around the i20 space.

Thanks for waking me from my dream.
One thing though. A/T (Automatic Transmission)
Will these be provided in hatchback for Jan 2010 release? I talked to the dealer and they are clueless.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by crackingride

Not really; you can add me to the list, with boredom extending to pessimism and disappointment.
For people who have been following this from the previous generation Polo, its not the recent full page ad that has got us looking at the brand. But the reasons we were looking in the first place seem to be vanishing into thin air.
Its the simple things that are getting to me: doing away with LED turn indicators, the changes to the head and tail light clusters, stuff like that. I know of no other manufacturer who is doing this with a model launched in the country. If it looks one way elsewhere, that's usually what we get here. VW is on some cost cutting trip, and I would not want one for that precise reason. I'd rather go with something else.

I'll go for a high-spec i20, rather than a cut-down polo, then.

Even a Ford would give me European-car feel at a reasonable price, but I want a smaller car than the Fiesta, and the maintenance costs worry.

[diffsoft]

Commercial production starts Dec 12th - VW Polo commercial production begins December 12 in India*-*WheelsUnplugged Automobile Industry News

@Mods: can you please merge all Polo launch threads - becomes difficult to track multiple threads for updates

[arjunrudra]

The polo definitely looks the part , if only they could come out with a good performing oil burner and price it right.
It would win over many hearts and already won over mine.

[theEnd]

Originally Posted by hrmanju1

Polo Hatch Specs Desired:

A/T - 1.2 L TSI - Red Polo - ABS - AirBags - No Beige Interiors - No Navigation - No Rear View Mirror LED - Cost: 7-8 Lacs

Release: January End,2009

Is this possible? Or am i dreaming?

I hope you're joking. Its ridiculous expectations like that that are going to spoil this car (and many other models) when it is launched in India.

Do you know of any petrol hatchback sold in India that has a turbocharged engine? Cheapest turbocharged petrol engined car available in India is the Octavia, and that engine has been around for about 8 years. Note also that the 1.2TSI Polo is quicker to 100km/h (9 seconds) than the Honda Civic that is sold in India.

The A/T offered by VW is a DSG. It can upshift in 8ms. That's 8/1000 of a second. Look at the pricing for the Jetta. The addition of a DSG involves a price increment of more than 1.0L.

You have to understand that you have to pay for quality and features. Considering the above points, the Polo should be priced between 8L and 12L in India, and a 1.2TSI with DSG should be at the top end of that range. And what's wrong with satellite navigation and LED indicators on the mirrors?

Here's an extract from the article mentioned above:

According to an auto industry observer, “When VW India rolls out Polo by next year, it is highly likely that the car will be offered with a 1.2-litre petrol engine (to qualify for lower excise duties), though a 1.6-litre TDI diesel might also be offered at a later stage. Once launched in the Indian market, Polo could be priced in the range of Rs. 5.5-6.5 lakh, and it’s highly likely that the car will not be as well-equipped as its European sibling, in order to keep prices competitive.”

Because of the tight pockets of everyone who's been talking about this car, the current consensus is that we're going to get a stripped down car with hardly any features in common with the European version. Might as well go buy a Swift instead.

Would you walk into a BMW showroom expecting to get an M3 for 20L? Its time to get real.

[hrmanju1]

Internationally (UK) website

The engines available are

1) 1.2L 60PS

2) 1.2L 70PS

3) 1.2L TSI 105PS

4) 1.4L 85PS

5) 1.4L 85PS + DSG

6) 1.6L TDI 75PS

7) 1.6L TDI 90PS

Are we going to get only these? or just 1,2 and 6?

And looking at the prices on the UK website and with stripping of certain items and localization.

Am i hearing another JAZZ pricing?

[raul]

Polo is pretty cramped and small, so they will have to position appropriately if they want numbers, of course for enthusiasts they can price it as they please, few people will pay 12 lakhs for a polo, this is not a golf, that sort of pricing will be ridiculous.

[theEnd]

If the current speculation is correct, I think VW's multi-crore ad-campaign is a grand waste.

If they launch a cheapened version of the Polo, with the lousy 3-pot engine, unless they price it below 6L it will be a failure. Who would pick a 6L+ Polo which has been severely compromised (i.e. no sat-nav, no smoked lights, no LED indicators, beige interiors) over a 5L Swift that is more fun to drive (88PS against 70PS) and has a far better service network? Even the i20, with its huge array of features and established brand reputation in India would make a better choice.

However, if VW launches the 1.2 TSI with DSG, they can price it above the Jazz quite easily. The performance, technology and build quality easily justify a 10L+ price tag for that car. Granted, sales will not be huge, but the car will win praises from everyone and enthusiasts and young urban professionals will buy it. Both of those are key markets to conquer when trying to build a brand: enthusiasts influence the decisions of others, while young urban professionals are likely to come back every 3-5 years to buy another car that costs twice as much as the last one.

VW has a choice. Or had a choice, because its certain their decision has already been made. Hopefully they didnt get it wrong, as the media speculation seems to indicate.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by hrmanju1

Well, i started following up on the Polo front from the day VW had this huge ad in TOI. Yeah, the marketing blitzkrieg worked on me. So my anticipation is still in the upswing. If not for the team-bhp scoops, i will wait for the Auto Expo to get the exact engine specs for the Indian market.

Polo Hatch Specs Desired:

A/T - 1.2 L TSI - Red Polo - ABS - AirBags - No Beige Interiors - No Navigation - No Rear View Mirror LED - Cost: 7-8 Lacs

Release: January End,2009

Is this possible? Or am i dreaming?

A/T & climatronic a/c may be not, otherwise with manual transmission and basic a/c, Yes why not! How else would VW justify putting up the huge factory.

In fact I would like to see the top of the line Polo settle in at 7lacs OTR and definitely without the Beige interiors. It is high time the auto companies stopped doling out the impractical beige and reintroduced the classic greys and blacks for interiors.