[gkoneti]

Originally Posted by Amartya

I agree. The only other option is that he's owned a VW before and loved it.

thanks for the kind words Xingamazon and Amartya.

I never owned a VW. But I used to travel in them when I was in Holland and Austria. Except few interior parts, I feel VW has done a commendable job in bringing the original European quality onto the Indian roads. If I am not wrong, the base Polo in Europe also has the same 75bhp producing engine and it costs about 8-9 lakhs INR or Euro 12000-13000.

I agree with Xingamazon that I should have worked for VW, since the Hyderabad showroom which I visited was having a good English speaking sales "consultant" but his enthusiasm was more concentrated in collecting phone numbers than explaining the heritage of Polo. Sadly I am a humble Bank manager with a keen eye for simple and clean things in life.

VW has achieved what is called breakthrough pricing for Polo without compromising on quality. It is neither too high nor low for the quality it offers. A mature business decision by VW India. They had a large team available at their disposal to brainstorm, bring ideas to perfect the case. Interestingly Honda also had similar strengths inhouse to do similar fantastic job on Honda. But they couldn't as they were mayopic (short sighted) from the old successes in India. A lot of energy wasted for Honda and also us (wasting time on debating why Honda did such a poor job in understanding market )

On the contrary, Ford did genuinely invest in bringing a low cost good family car in the form of Figo which is again shows their commitment to India. In an ambition to bring Figo on to the roads soon, the design team was hurried and the rear half of the car is just patched up with available panels (from the old car designs). Figo looks good from the front and also to some extent on sideways but not when looked from behind.
But I think both of them would achieve good success finally. Polo would win a quality customer (lot of urban professionals, two member families etc) and Figo with its good diesel engines would win lot of families as it has a good boot. Moreover you can get a base version of Figo diesel at the price of base version of Polo petrol.

me thinks, Polo is not competing against Figo and vice versa. Both have different niche segments.

Personal views. I have no connections to what so ever car making company in the world. All my views are from my observations for the past 10 years when I got attracted to automobiles.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by gkoneti

I am going to drive it like a precious piece of luxury!. I am going to park it before my house and watch it for five minutes before I enter my house.

I used to do the same many many years back. Simply look at and admire my Matiz from my terrace. I drove it like a precious piece of luxury.

But today if i buy a goodlooking car will i be able to protect that beauty from scratches and dents in this mad traffic.

That is the only question preventing me from going and booking a Polo.

[xingamazon]

Originally Posted by poloman

@amitoj i am a fan of that one too.
But what the hell is this?
prabhadevi to goregoan : (approx 22/23 km) half of the tank was used.
the engine heated up
catalytic convertor gave up
car vibrated violently on speeds aboove 80 kmph.
Is this real??
ac 427 kindly update on this at the earliest.

As pointed out, I guess there must be some gross mistake in the figures/facts here. Dont think VW or for that matter any company would be sending off a lemon that too in the initial batches. Knowing the quality standards of these companies.

Guess we should stop discussing this (to avoid undue bad publicity) until we have any confirmed news about this vehicle.

[joshdrive]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

As pointed out, I guess there must be some gross mistake in the figures/facts here. Dont think VW or for that matter any company would be sending off a lemon that too in the initial batches. Knowing the quality standards of these companies.

Guess we should stop discussing this (to avoid undue bad publicity) until we have any confirmed news about this vehicle.

+1. Either the numbers are grossly wrong or some other problem like wrong fuel. Lets wait until the person who reported come back with more detail.

[cossack]

Originally Posted by aseem

So you are in the market with anywhere between 4.5 to 6 lakhs to spend. You are looking at a petrol hatch with oodles of space and decent ride. Whats high on Mr.X's radar is probably low on Mr.Y's. With things like looks, driveability, price, space, *snob value* (status), etc in your mind before you make the decision to put your hard earned (or inherited by chance) money on a hatch that fits the bill.

...
Overall Rating

Well to summarize, I had a bias towards Polo when I started my journey for a B+ new hatch. I had an inherent dislike for Figo. In the end I ended up rather confused. The practicality/price and temptation of Figo made the decision not to easy. Figo did leave me impressed and tilted my views towards it though I havent made up my final mind yet. A car buying decision has lots of things that go behind it, money, exclusivity etc being a part of it. Depending on your budget and situation different criterias would appeal to you more.... But to summarize, Figo is definitely an old wine in new bottle, but the older the wine the better it is

Overall Rating VW Polo: 28/35

Overall Rating Ford Figo: 28/35

The moral of the story being, I started by reviewing both cars, and ended up where I started. More confused than ever before. The stats tell the story. Both cars appeal to different buyers and will carve space for themselves in already crowded B+ segment. To each his own

P.S. Sorry for the typos, too lazy to recheck .

Disclaimer: The photos have been taken from TBHP with due respect and credit to the original photographers.

VFM, overall package, power, security and handling, PSS etc. are alright, for a B segment car I do not think snob value should at all be the criteria (it's my personal opinion though)... for me a two seater hatch coming at 18L+ would tick the last one.

However, the review covered majority of the points pretty good and it was helpful. My vote goes for Figo.

[formel_eins]

IMO figo is a good economical hatch, I wont say VFM because it is a very generic term and priorities can change from people to people. For a second lets remove the price tag and put the 2 cars on street and give you a choice, which one would it be?? (This is a figo polo specific test, so dont add more cars on street imagination )

Polo demands a second look and third and fourth. For me a figo is like Nokia which packs punch but polo is like iphone which delivers a knockout.

[srishiva]

For me Figo does not look that good. Looks like a budget hatch outside and inside.
On the other hand Polo looks really good with good quality finish in exterior and interior

[cossack]

Originally Posted by formel_eins

IMO figo is a good economical hatch, I wont say VFM because it is a very generic term and priorities can change from people to people. For a second lets remove the price tag and put the 2 cars on street and give you a choice, which one would it be?? (This is a figo polo specific test, so dont add more cars on street imagination )

Polo demands a second look and third and fourth. For me a figo is like Nokia which packs punch but polo is like iphone which delivers a knockout.

That was a killer argument pal, definitely Polo scores on the build quality and practical yet ageless design choices. But as I read somewhere, Figo is a car that's not too photogenic; on the street it too looks pretty palatable and with Fiesta's Diesel engine, I think it has got nothing to lose if not scoring a home-run.

~

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by cossack

practical yet ageless design choices.

Was following a silver Polo two weeks back. I told my parents that this is the newly launched Polo etc etc.

They reacted by saying - Is it new? It looks plain and old!

In fact, the more i looked at it, even i started feeling the same. Doesn't look half as good in silver, as it does in red!

[Screwdriva]

Sadly, the Figo does beat the Polo in interior space. No denying it.

But the interior feels so obsolete and "old", the only thing I wanna do with all that space is hang myself in it.

The red/ pink/ magenta/ whateverthe heck it is dash further induces confusion and depression.

Figo also has a couple other advantages as well, I'm sure. But I don't really want to think about them. All I want is to drool at the next red Polo that drives my way.

[Superleggera]

I voted for Polo -

Looks - Ford has screwed up with the front looks of their cars - Ikon,Fiesta and now Figo.The small grille looks ugly to me.
Brand Value - I think VW is a better brand than Ford.

[joshdrive]

Originally Posted by Amartya

Great, pat yourself on the back guys, those ridiculous comments just might lead the thread into another baseless argument. I will go as far as saying that both of you are blatantly ignorant, because if you had taken the trouble of reading GTO's review, as well as Aseem's,(psst, one need to go to the first page of a thread before posting, always a good habit to know before one speaks) you would know that the Figo's interiors do not induce suicidal tendencies. Some even prefer the seat fabric in the Figo over the Polo.

You might like the Polo, might even have booked it, that doesn't mean you'd take cheap potshots, specially ones that expose you as being utterly ignorant.

+1. There is a limit to fanboyism. Both those comments are due to utter ignorance. There are 7000 Figo owners on road in just 1 month.

[arishi1]

Originally Posted by joshdrive

+1. There is a limit to fanboyism. Both those comments are due to utter ignorance. There are 7000 Figo owners on road in just 1 month.

voted for POLO based on my personal test drive of both of these in Navi Mumbai.

And of the 7000 FIGO booked, I suspect majority of them are going to be diesel.

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by Screwdriva

But the interior feels so obsolete and "old", the only thing I wanna do with all that space is hang myself in it.

Going by this incredible logic, anyone who has been in an i20 would commit suicide or spontaneously combust the moment they step into a Polo.

The Polo is a good car in its own right. There is no need to bash a competitor to make it look better. Especially when the competitor has outsold it by 10 times.

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by formel_eins

it helps when you accept reality.

The only reality as of now is that the Figo has outsold the Polo by 10 times. Everything else including whether the interiors are tasteful or not is subjective. What's reality and truthful for you may not be reality for others. Would you agree?