[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Lighter colours do give a airy feel to the interior. Helps since smaller cars are made more today. Vento's seat colours are too light for my liking. Dont know how a cover would look on it.

You are right, light colour coupled with fabric covers are easy to get dirty and dificult to clean. It would make sense to get darker shade washable seat covers, preferably art. leather which is easy to clean and maintain.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm sure colour use influences our impression of space.
I'm a slob... I need a car that doesn't show he dirt! <Blush>

I second that

[SPARKled]

From whatever I have read and seen across forums, the Vento is still a notch below the Honda City in evrything except maybe better quality plastics. Its unlikely that the Vento petrol will do anything to the City if its priced anywhere near to it. The Diesel may be a different game altogether but still has to be priced lower than the City.

[gkoneti]

Just got a call from VW Secunderabad from a sales guy saying that though bookings have not yet started, they are blocking the names for waitlist. Initially they asked about Rs. 100,000 as advance amount and came down to Rs. 50,000 after I expressed my shock.

He asked for a post dated cheque for 50K dated Aug 9th or later. Though prices aren't announced, he said that the onroad price for 1.6 HL Diesel would be below 10 lakhs.

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by gkoneti

Though prices aren't announced, he said that the onroad price for 1.6 HL Diesel would be below 10 lakhs.

If that is the final case, then Honda City's fortunes are sure to be doomed, atleast to a certain extent.

[KMT]

Hi just came across this road test of the 1.6L VW Diesel that has been launched in the polo here in Oz.
I guess it is the same engine that will come in the Vento.
Volkswagen Polo 66TDI Comfortline - www.drive.com.au

[mxx]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

From whatever I have read and seen across forums, the Vento is still a notch below the Honda City in evrything except maybe better quality plastics. Its unlikely that the Vento petrol will do anything to the City if its priced anywhere near to it. The Diesel may be a different game altogether but still has to be priced lower than the City.

Why and how is it a notch below honda city. We do not even have a first drive report. It is too early to comment on that. The equipment levels are decent enough to be on par with city.

Originally Posted by gupta_chd

If that is the final case, then Honda City's fortunes are sure to be doomed, atleast to a certain extent.

Doomed is too extreme word. Yes, it will be hit real bad. Lets see, everything depends on pricing.

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by gkoneti

Just got a call from VW Secunderabad from a sales guy saying that though bookings have not yet started, they are blocking the names for waitlist. Initially they asked about Rs. 100,000 as advance amount and came down to Rs. 50,000 after I expressed my shock.

He asked for a post dated cheque for 50K dated Aug 9th or later. Though prices aren't announced, he said that the onroad price for 1.6 HL Diesel would be below 10 lakhs.

Originally Posted by gupta_chd

If that is the final case, then Honda City's fortunes are sure to be doomed, atleast to a certain extent.

Under 10 Lacs for a Diesel on road would give heartache to a lot of companies. This means that the petrol version would be a tad lower than 9 lacs onroad, enough to hurt ANHC but way above SX4 & Linea.

If VW wants to be comepetitive it will have to be in the range of 8 lacs or nearabouts for petrol, plus there may be no discounts, freebies, accessories, etc. which are available with Maruti & Fiat.

[Abhi_Automobile]

Under 10 Lacs for a Diesel on road would give heartache to a lot of companies. This means that the petrol version would be a tad lower than 9 lacs onroad, enough to hurt ANHC but way above SX4 & Linea.

If VW wants to be comepetitive it will have to be in the range of 8 lacs or nearabouts for petrol, plus there may be no discounts, freebies, accessories, etc. which are available with Maruti & Fiat.

Hey dude! VW regards itself as a premium brand. And for most parts of the world, except North America, it enjoys that image among the automotive public as well.

They will never enter a price war and try to compete with Maruti or Hyundai on price. It is just bad 'brand management'. They will not do it. Also, just coz Honda enjoys tremendous brand loyalty in India (it has good image worldwide but exceptional image in India), it will not change its pricing strategy completely.

However, since it has to establish itself as a volume player, expect good value for money!

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by Abhi_Automobile

Hey dude! VW regards itself as a premium brand. And for most parts of the world, except North America, it enjoys that image among the automotive public as well.

They will never enter a price war and try to compete with Maruti or Hyundai on price. It is just bad 'brand management'. They will not do it. Also, just coz Honda enjoys tremendous brand loyalty in India (it has good image worldwide but exceptional image in India), it will not change its pricing strategy completely.

However, since it has to establish itself as a volume player, expect good value for money!

This is India and Brand strategies here revolve around price, premium brands do have its appeal, however they are good to look at and discuss for the majority of the population, rather than purchasing.

If VW has to venture into the volume market (Polo/Vento) they will have come around to compete on the price turf or else be satisfied with low volume sales which would not justify the heavy investment in production facilities in India, unless they plan to make it as an export hub.

The best deal would be to have a price comparable with the Russian Polo Sedan (a.k.a. Vento in India)

Trendline: 3,99,000.00 RU
Highline: 5,34,400.00 RU

(Conversion factor 1 RU=1.55 INR)

[Crank]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

The best deal would be to have a price comparable with the Russian Polo Sedan (a.k.a. Vento in India)

Trendline: 3,99,000.00 RU
Highline: 5,34,400.00 RU

(Conversion factor 1 RU=1.55 INR)

This certainly is a killer price and will give ANHC run for its money.
However I feel petrol will be priced some where between 8-10 and the diesel from 11 -12L.

[acidkill]

Still dont understand why Volkswagen hasnt provided details of the vento on its website. If they have already started production, i am sure that they would have finalized on the variants and the corresponding features list.

I dont think that the competition could possible devise any major strategies to distract potential customers from booking the Vento at the launch.

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by Crank

This certainly is a killer price and will give ANHC run for its money.
However I feel petrol will be priced some where between 8-10 and the diesel from 11 -12L.

You are right, but no harm in dreaming, sometimes it may come true also

Originally Posted by acidkill

Still dont understand why Volkswagen hasnt provided details of the vento on its website. If they have already started production, i am sure that they would have finalized on the variants and the corresponding features list.

I dont think that the competition could possible devise any major strategies to distract potential customers from booking the Vento at the launch.

This is the standard procedure I guess, they will have it on the site once the price is announced and booking dates confirmed.

[acidkill]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Trendline: 3,99,000.00 RU
Highline: 5,34,400.00 RU

(Conversion factor 1 RU=1.55 INR)

Funny thing about the Russian price is that it is under that of the Honda Jazz which is priced at 615 000 Roubles ! In India however, media claims the vento to be priced on par with the Honda City which is acutally more expensive than the Jazz!

Looking at the Russian Prices and considering the exchange rate of 1:1.55, the price of the petrol model in India should be
Trendline: 6.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 7 L
Highline: 8.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 9 L

For Diesel, assuming that the 1 Lakh markup of the Diesel Polo carries forward to the vento , i think the price of the diesel vento should be

Trendline: 7.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 8 L
Highline: 9.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 10.2 L

[m_upreti]

Originally Posted by acidkill

Funny thing about the Russian price is that it is under that of the Honda Jazz which is priced at 615 000 Roubles ! In India however, media claims the vento to be priced on par with the Honda City which is acutally more expensive than the Jazz!

Looking at the Russian Prices and considering the exchange rate of 1:1.55, the price of the petrol model in India should be
Trendline: 6.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 7 L
Highline: 8.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 9 L

For Diesel, assuming that the 1 Lakh markup of the Diesel Polo carries forward to the vento , i think the price of the diesel vento should be

Trendline: 7.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 8 L
Highline: 9.25 L ex-showroom + 10% on Reg + Insurance = 10.2 L

Since we are on the topic, to take this up a bit further we can compare the Ex Showroom Indian & Russian price of Jetta 1.6 Trendline:

India: INR 13,11,600.00 (appx.)
Russia: RU 6,41,000 or INR 9,93,550.00

A difference of of 32% in price so if we apply this logic to the Vento then the price should be:

Petrol - Ex showroom

Trendline 8.25 lacs
Highline 10.89 Lacs

Diesel - Ex showroom

Trendline 9.57 lacs
Highline 14.37 Lacs

This is just for purely speculation purposes but the Highline Petrol comes quiet close to the price of a ANHC, with additional goodies.

[acidkill]

Originally Posted by m_upreti

Petrol - Ex showroom

Trendline 8.25 lacs
Highline 10.89 Lacs

Diesel - Ex showroom

Trendline 9.57 lacs
Highline 14.37 Lacs

This is just for purely speculation purposes but the Highline Petrol comes quiet close to the price of a ANHC, with additional goodies.

Interesting, but you are overlooking the taxation aspects related to importing CKD's (60%) and CBU's (180%). I dont know if the Jetta is imported as a CKD or a CBU, but in either case, there would be a huge tax induced premium over the russian price.