[Abhi_Automobile]

Are you an IITian by any chance? I do not know that many college recruits that could buy a 5 lakh car. All were around 27/28 when they could buy a 5 lakh car from their own hard earned money.

Polo at 27 and Vento at 30. Thats not too bad, is it?

I bought my first car at 24--> Maruti Swift Vxi. Just after it was launched!
I studied at an NIT/REC. Age does not matter much. You should have basic affordability and desire to own the car. Many people buy it out of passion. Of course it helps if you have more of 'green' stuff.

[Trapezio]

@Abhi_Automobile

Good for you Abhi.

But are you not the exception than the norm?

Speaking of averages, cars are still too expensive for an average 24 year old. I could not imagine a car when I was 24. The weaker grey matter also contributed.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Good for you Abhi.

But are you not the exception than the norm?

Speaking of averages, cars are still too expensive for an average 24 year old. I could not imagine a car when I was 24. The weaker grey matter also contributed.

Oops! Thats not what I meant. All I meant to say was it is not only affordability but also desire/ passion which contributes to buying decisions. Of course, I don't discount the money part, else I would have been driving AUDI A4 instead of Maruti Swift

[oss]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I know, I am just mentioning how the streategy of these companies would be next to milk the customer who go by brand names.

Its like trying to get an admission of a school even before the kid is born.

And by the way, there are few schools in Chennai that do take registration and provide priority admission even before the child is born.

It's becoming a fad, that parents go and register as soon as they get confirmation from the gynec !! In future i think one needs to keep the school informed the moment they decide to start a family

[CARDEEP]

Originally Posted by oss

And by the way, there are few schools in Chennai that do take registration and provide priority admission even before the child is born.

It's becoming a fad, that parents go and register as soon as they get confirmation from the gynec !! In future i think one needs to keep the school informed the moment they decide to start a family

Pre-launch bookings are actually becoming a norm in India, especially in the realty sector. But, it was the auto sector where such gimmicks were seen to start with. I remember a dealer in Delhi had to deal with Sikh family that wanted the first Indica in Delhi to be delivered to them & were ready to buy the display car with the dealer at premium. My friend bough the 2nd ZMA (after unsuccessful bidding for 1st ZMA) when ZMA was launched (it is a different story that he switched to P180 later).

I guess VW (or probably few of its dealers) are capitalising on this Indian euphoria about the affordable European car.

[cyqed]

wow.. it has been a long wait. I dunno how much longer we have to wait for this car to hit indian market.

[sudhir3127]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

I bought my first car at 24--> Maruti Swift Vxi. Just after it was launched!
I studied at an NIT/REC. Age does not matter much. You should have basic affordability and desire to own the car. Many people buy it out of passion. Of course it helps if you have more of 'green' stuff.

Yeah even I dont see any correlation between ones age and the car he/she drives. I'm also 27 and another 6 months I'm planning to buy a Civic. Not that i'm super rich but its jsut the love to drive a superb machine.
Note: I am not a businessman , working in Private company and my basic education is Chartered Accountancy.

[JJames]

Guys, just happened to see this clip in Youtube of Vento undergoing tests:-

YouTube - 2011 Volkswagen Vento / Polo sedan undergoing final ARAI testing in India

[mxx]

From zigwheels show(ET now channel) today:
1.6 diesel and 1.6 petrol, Autumn Launch, AT only in petrol

[pamishra]

Any idea on what features will be available on the Vento. I can see ACC, alloys, front seat arm rest, internally adjustable ORVMs, steering mounted radio controls.

Any other outstanding feature, that cars in this segment do not offer, like Start/Stop button etc??

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

The conservative safe styling with clean proportionate lines does not look very exciting but this design will age very well.

Remember the Skoda Octavia and Hyundai Accent, these cars never looked exciting but while other cars in the segments like Ikon and Optra look dated now(even with facelifts), these ones still continue with unchanged original design, not many people complain about the same.

I feel VW should have slightly different front end for the Vento, unlike the DZire which shares the same styling with the Swift hatch.

Perfectly put. The Manza and Dezire cannot hold a candle to the Vento's clean lines and proportions. I agree about the Octavia being a very good design, just not sure of the Accent (it started to look dumpy quite early), but I get the point.

The Polo, the Vento, the Punto, the Linea are all going to look pretty good even after 10 years.

Agreed about having a different front end too.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Perfectly put. The Manza and Dezire cannot hold a candle to the Vento's clean lines and proportions.

Well there is one point which all seem to forget, till date the hatch-to-sedan has been only for an entry level sedan cars.

E.g. by adding boot to an Indica we have Indigo which falls into entry level sedan category same for Dzire, Manza.

But what VW is trying here is to put a Box to the Polo, which according to price falls in lower end of premium hatch. and make it a premium sedan, I mean to extent of challenging guys like City, Corrolla. Which is where I have some reservations.

It would have been so nice when the car is priced into the entry level sedan area similar to Ikon, Dzire and Manza but they want to garner a premium price for it which is not right approach(for jus adding a boot)

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Well there is one point which all seem to forget, till date the hatch-to-sedan has been only for an entry level sedan cars.

E.g. by adding boot to an Indica we have Indigo which falls into entry level sedan category same for Dzire, Manza.

But what VW is trying here is to put a Box to the Polo, which according to price falls in lower end of premium hatch. and make it a premium sedan, I mean to extent of challenging guys like City, Corrolla. Which is where I have some reservations.

It would have been so nice when the car is priced into the entry level sedan area similar to Ikon, Dzire and Manza but they want to garner a premium price for it which is not right approach(for jus adding a boot)

Not quite true with the hatch-sedan stuff. Linea is again a sedan of Punto, though the design is a lot better, and it is not very apparent that it is a sedan based out of Punto. Also, Jetta is a Golf sedan, but it does not matter because Golf is not around in India.

But, I get your point of VW trying to charge a premium for the Vento.

[acidkill]

Could someone please provide me the latest about the diesel Volkswagen Vento in terms of:

- Price Range
- Launch Date

many thanks

[Abhi_Automobile]

- Price Range

Should have an ex showroom of around 8 for the bottom end Petrol. People will spread rumours, since its a VW, expect slightly inflated tag.

The diesel may touch 9.5 ex showroom (will certainly touch 9 or so) for top end diesel. I don't expect anything to go beyond ANHC V-AT.

- Launch Date

Around Sept or so.

PS: I also expect POLO 1.6 to be available close to/after SEDAN is launched, since they will share engines.