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Old 10th January 2010, 08:18   #121
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I was at a VW showroom yesterday to have a peek at the Beetle. Had a long chat about Polo with the sr. sales person. Bookings have started. Polo diesel will be launched 2 months after the launch of 1.2 petrol. The on road price (Bangalore) will be between 6.5-7.5 for the diesel. It develops 75 bhp and 180 NM torque, similar to the swift's. But it is a 3 cylinders motor. He said the FE will be top class. With this price I think diesel Polo will be the mainstay.

He had no info on 1.6 petrol or Polo saloon.

Last edited by fi.robin : 10th January 2010 at 08:20.
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Old 10th January 2010, 09:02   #122
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Not for regular road conditions, no. But our drag & track racers would definitely appreciate a lower cost (relative to import tyres) option.
I believe those slicks are made by JK tyres !! if someone had the right contacts they can be obtained.
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Old 10th January 2010, 09:08   #123
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Originally Posted by fi.robin View Post
I was at a VW showroom yesterday to have a peek at the Beetle. Had a long chat about Polo with the sr. sales person. Bookings have started. Polo diesel will be launched 2 months after the launch of 1.2 petrol. The on road price (Bangalore) will be between 6.5-7.5 for the diesel. It develops 75 bhp and 180 NM torque, similar to the swift's. But it is a 3 cylinders motor. He said the FE will be top class. With this price I think diesel Polo will be the mainstay.

He had no info on 1.6 petrol or Polo saloon.
At those prices it will compete with Punto considering the overall package. Swift, Ritz and Vista would stay in the safe zone. Fabia -> RIP!

I believe if Polo could deliver better performance and efficiency compared to Punto, Polo could into Punto's prospects. Fiat could have done better in projecting Punto's outstanding dynamics and its stunning looks. The message has not really passed on to its prospective customers and hence the sales never really took off like expected.

VW should do some smart thinking of positioning and projecting Polo to ensure sales by not eating into Fabia's pie.
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Old 10th January 2010, 09:54   #124
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Where is the Beetle ? Would love to see pictures of it.
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Old 10th January 2010, 10:48   #125
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Where is the Beetle ? Would love to see pictures of it.
They didn't have any on display. All sold out :(.

The 0-100 performance figures of Polo mentioned in their brochure are
1.2 petrol : 14.2 secs
1.2 diesel : 14.4 secs
1.6 petrol : 11.1 secs

So 1.6 petrol is def. coming at a later stage.
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Old 10th January 2010, 11:46   #126
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thanks rehaan! registered myself for the polo cup!
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Old 10th January 2010, 11:49   #127
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Originally Posted by fi.robin View Post

The 0-100 performance figures of Polo mentioned in their brochure are
1.2 petrol : 14.2 secs
1.2 diesel : 14.4 secs
1.6 petrol : 11.1 secs

So 1.6 petrol is def. coming at a later stage.
1.2 diesel 0-100 @ 14.4 is in Swift DDIS zone. Need to wait and see what its in-gear acceleration would be. But if priced at 650k my favorite Punto would be in trouble zone. Fiat might price Punto sport very competitively.
1.6 Petrol could very well be a Solid super hatch!
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Old 10th January 2010, 14:46   #128
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I also had the same feeling when i first saw spy pics of while polo on some other thread.
Me too. Infact i think this should have been the next gen palio design. The red polo has a strange resembalance to my current stile 1.6 in red. even my wife remarked it out of the blue when she seen pics of the polo... Im intrested in the 1.6L engine of the polo. It should be a great car...! cant wait for the roadtest here...!
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Old 10th January 2010, 22:09   #129
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VW is only a peoples' car for the people that can afford it.

If the government would go shoot themselves, i think we wouldn't have any complains about prices (taxes).
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Old 11th January 2010, 10:49   #130
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Post #3 updated with Phaeton pics
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Old 11th January 2010, 11:21   #131
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That's my only problem with the Polo : Choice of engine! The 3 cylinder Fabia unit is pretty lousy for a premium hatchback. And the competition has moved on......the Ritz 1.2 and Hyundai Kappas are pretty sweet 4 cylinder units. The Polo's 3 cylinder will never match the refinement of these two.

As someone else commented, who says lightning doesn't strike the same place TWICE?

I think VW is making a defensive error straight out of the gate. The Polo should have been equipped with the 1.2 TSI and 1.4 TDI even though that would have meant pricing it starting at i20 and ending before Jazz. Whatever was the incremental cost of the 1.2 TSI vs the 1.2 NA would have been mostly recouped with volumes. Hell, share it with Fabia and sell to Maruti (isnt Suzuki a semi subsidiary now) to make a Swift Sport and yet be within small car norms.

Look at the numbers the Old Honda City and this new 3rd Generation one inspite of being hugely overpriced vs the competition. People in India understand performance and are prepared to pay for performance. The automobile "consultants" hired by these transnationals just dont get it. Just because speeds are low in India does not mean that Indians want to reach there glacially.

Throughout our automotive history - engines have sold cars.

Anyone remember how many units the M1000 sold at around 3.5L. And when the Esteem was launched (same car different engine) at 4.5L, the sales just exploded.

The OHC was 1.5 times costlier than the competition. Remember its sales.

In current times, I would be willing to bet that the 1.8 TSI is drawing many more sales to the Laura than the 2.0 Petrol in the original Octavia.
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Old 11th January 2010, 11:37   #132
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If the government would go shoot themselves, i think we wouldn't have any complains about prices (taxes).
VW is far from being a cheap car in UK. Other than the original beetle, I don't think it has ever been a people's car. The Golf GTI was the ultimate 'yuppie' car to a generation.
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Old 11th January 2010, 15:34   #133
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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom View Post
VW is far from being a cheap car in UK. Other than the original beetle, I don't think it has ever been a people's car. The Golf GTI was the ultimate 'yuppie' car to a generation.
The way the polo is going on, its price might equal Jazz
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Old 11th January 2010, 15:56   #134
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Asifgrkhan View Post
I think VW is making a defensive error straight out of the gate. The Polo should have been equipped with the 1.2 TSI and 1.4 TDI even though that would have meant pricing it starting at i20 and ending before Jazz. Whatever was the incremental cost of the 1.2 TSI vs the 1.2 NA would have been mostly recouped with volumes. Hell, share it with Fabia and sell to Maruti (isnt Suzuki a semi subsidiary now) to make a Swift Sport and yet be within small car norms.


Throughout our automotive history - engines have sold cars.
+5 to this statement.
I for one am willing to pay price = Jazz if i get a TSI engine now. Well, anyways, puzzling is the way the auto expert consultants make.
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Old 12th January 2010, 15:44   #135
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My Guess is that the pricing is going to be somewhere between the Punto and the Jazz. If it leans more towards to Punto, then it’s most likely the end of the story for Punto. It will go down as yet another FIAT car which is a engineered well but marketed badly.
Even Swift has something to worry about. As the performance figures seem to be very close to swift and the overall build quality of VW will definitely be better.
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