[worldcrawler]

Originally Posted by anekho

woah!

Besides, hopefully the engineering that has gone into this car will show in the long run and make up for the lack of features.

Just my opinion, no offense intended!

May be a stupid question but what exactly is different in terms of engineering/technology which no other hatches offer here ?

Their 3 pot engine ? Not sure what's the difference in emissions with other 4 pot engines . But if it's not significant then there is no value in this step.

Only thing which I see superior to other offerings is probably the international platform ( not sure though ).

Apart from that I don't see anything different or superior to other cars as the Indian Polo doesn't offer anything great as it's been built to a price and only time will tell where exactly they have reduced cost.

Now talking about build quality in affordable hatches , I see only Palio , which after years of abuse externally doesn't show age( there may be other issues and spares problem ). Polo is yet to prove this ( although the international models proved this ) as the Indian one is built to a price and quite different from the international offering.

[formel_eins]

Originally Posted by worldcrawler

I guess the average bookings of Petrol polo itself across dealers ( may be 40 of them ) is more than 60+. And in previous post I saw a dealer is having 100+ bookings. So, the initial response is damn good for a company like VW with merely 40 dealers but still selling close to 2500 cars !

It may not sustain for a long time but right now it's good for VW. We are talking about premium , VFM all this stuff ( including me in the top ) , but if they are able to sell more than 2000 cars even in first few months , that will change the game for VW and then we may have a surprise.

* Please don't jump on me regarding the numbers as they are mere speculations.



Oh my god ! so 7-8K is the official figure for each service ?
Now this is what is "premium"
How much oil a 3 pot engine consumes? Oh, I forgot it's premium oil( liquid engineering at it's best ).

I do have a feeling that VW will maintain the moment in terms of numbers, since the pricing is not over the top as it was in case of Fabia. Pricing of petrol polo is attractive and it may work in VW favor

As for the service part, well I own a honda city 2007, it has a service interval of 5000kms and each servicing averages around 2.5-3K so Rs.7-8K every 15000Km is not an outrageous amount. I had asked the sales manager at VW but he said the rates for service, spares would be arriving in next week. So lets wait and watch, but I certainly believe that polo wont make a hole in pocket

[rupinder]

today i saw a red polo which was registered in ludhiana .it was looking good.

another grouse that the buyers of polo who go for brand name and image have is that there is no indication on the car whether a particular car is trendline,comfortline or highline.you have to judge yourself seeing the features .when i was at the showroom a person was complaining about it .now how are they supposed to show their neighbours that they have bought the highend version. go figure

[formel_eins]

Originally Posted by worldcrawler

May be a stupid question but what exactly is different in terms of engineering/technology which no other hatches offer here ?

Their 3 pot engine ? Not sure what's the difference in emissions with other 4 pot engines . But if it's not significant then there is no value in this step.

Only thing which I see superior to other offerings is probably the international platform ( not sure though ).

Apart from that I don't see anything different or superior to other cars as the Indian Polo doesn't offer anything great as it's been built to a price and only time will tell where exactly they have reduced cost.

Now talking about build quality in affordable hatches , I see only Palio , which after years of abuse externally doesn't show age( there may be other issues and spares problem ). Polo is yet to prove this ( although the international models proved this ) as the Indian one is built to a price and quite different from the international offering.

the 3-pot engine which is being offered is not a direct rip-off from Fabia, but it has been refined further. there is no ground breaking technology in polo but then it is a hatchback. Engineering, well yes it is a new platform and an international one. In fact the platform is designed from a racing perspective (Polo GTI), and that explains the handling, ride quality of polo.

yes polo is yet to prove its build quality, so do all the new hatchbacks like figo, punto, beat, but then VW gives you the confidence to believe it by providing 6 years of anti-corrosion warranty

[gaurav_chopra04]

Please find my replies in Bold

Originally Posted by worldcrawler

May be a stupid question but what exactly is different in terms of engineering/technology which no other hatches offer here ?

Their 3 pot engine ? Not sure what's the difference in emissions with other 4 pot engines . But if it's not significant then there is no value in this step.

The 3 pot engine is the same VW offers in Polo's basic variant in Europe. If they would have designed a new 1.2 for India, it would have costed them much more.

Only thing which I see superior to other offerings is probably the international platform ( not sure though ).

I have sit in a previous gen Polo and must say, the interiors felt almost same. Even in Europe, Polo is VW's basic offering compared to its other cars. Its like A-Star to suzuki. Parts have surely have been localised but VW's purchasing stategies with suppliers were very stringent here in India to keep the quality as high as possible. I know it inside out, cant explain them due to other reasons! Can just state that I work for an organisation that do research on automotive component suppliers across the globe.

Apart from that I don't see anything different or superior to other cars as the Indian Polo doesn't offer anything great as it's been built to a price and only time will tell where exactly they have reduced cost.

I would beg to differ.....

Now talking about build quality in affordable hatches , I see only Palio , which after years of abuse externally doesn't show age( there may be other issues and spares problem ). Polo is yet to prove this ( although the international models proved this ) as the Indian one is built to a price and quite different from the international offering.

A car like Punto is built to price, many BHPians have already reported rust on the body (my 800 still doest have it after 10 years, Good Morning) and interior quality is something I hated, the first time I sat in the car. Polo's built quality and interior quality is tad bit than the Swift or the Punto. Interiors are better than figo or Beat too. Although, I have personally never liked Hyundai's car, I must admit that I20's interior quality is better than the Polo. Kudos to Hyundai for that. Furthermore, i20 looks good as well but thats because Europe's Vauxhall Corsa looks good as well.

[formel_eins]

Originally Posted by rupinder

today i saw a red polo which was registered in ludhiana .it was looking good.

another grouse that the buyers of polo who go for brand name and image have is that there is no indication on the car whether a particular car is trendline,comfortline or highline.you have to judge yourself seeing the features .when i was at the showroom a person was complaining about it .now how are they supposed to show their neighbours that they have bought the highend version. go figure

yes there is no indication in terms of badge, but the differences are clearly visible once you look at the car, dont they?? a trendline does not come with body colour OVRMS or door handles, whereas a comfortline does not come with alloys. and anyways if you have a VW in your garage (doesnt matter which trim line), it will attract attention from neighbours

Originally Posted by fiat_tarun

Well the Honda Jazz's sales no's for the first 2 months or so were around the 2-2.5k mark and then started the big plunge. A new product will always receive a good initial response (especially the POLO after all the publicity). Whether sales will remain good will depend on the feedback of the initial owners. The biggest problem like is mentioned is the dealer network. The whole of karnataka has only 3 dealers in bangalore..

i dont think jazz was made to conquer numbers, no matter what you put inside it, it will always be a hatch, whereas polo is a proper hatchback with a competitive pricing so I think it will continue the momentum. VW has other cars in pipeline for Indian market (VW golf was caught testing around Pune, it was a left hand driven car, even the sales manager at VW agreed to it) and it is using polo as its brand ambassador for the mass market, so I dont think they will gamble with poor service

Note from Team-BHP Support: Please use the "Edit", button to add information to your previous post if your next post is within a time span of 15 minutes of the previous one.

[formel_eins]

Originally Posted by joe1980

I guess a Polo here in Germany costs roughly about 15, 000 Euros. The vehicle is assembled here in Europe (Well, these might not be exactly true but to some extent). I really do not know the rules and norms for manufacturing a car in India. But I certainly do know that the cost of manufacturing in India is far far less than in Europe. This being the case, why should this vehicle cost so much in India? In simple terms it looks like "Indian Made - European priced" but rather I would expect "Indian Made - Indian Priced"

cost of manufacturing is less in India but not far less. excise duties on manufacturing vary between 10 - 20% import duties on various parts attract duties in the range of 25%-40% plus there is cost of technology also. The new VW plant near Pune is one of the state of art manufacturing units of VW group one which uses the latest technology. So we are in fact getting European process, well quality of material may differ but then it is priced accordingly

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by rupinder

today i saw a red polo which was registered in ludhiana .it was looking good.

another grouse that the buyers of polo who go for brand name and image have is that there is no indication on the car whether a particular car is trendline,comfortline or highline.you have to judge yourself seeing the features .when i was at the showroom a person was complaining about it .now how are they supposed to show their neighbours that they have bought the highend version. go figure

That's a european practice which I actually prefer

In Europe, we can even opt to take delivery of the car without the car nameplate (320D for eg.). I checked with my friends and they said there are 2 reasons for it,
1. For lower end variant owners - No need to show they have a lower variant
2. For higher end variant owners - Don't want to expose their car to thiefs.

We Indians are the opposite right? "Hyundai Santro Zing ABS", "Indica Vista Quadrajet 90 Aura ABS", "Ford Ikon NXT CLXI", "Ford Fiesta 1.6 Duratec ZXi ABS" etc..

However here we observe that some people buy VW or Skoda for snob value, so they sure want to flaunt it.

[arun1100]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Please find my replies in Bold
A car like Punto is built to price, many BHPians have already reported rust on the body (my 800 still doest have it after 10 years, Good Morning) and interior quality is something I hated, the first time I sat in the car. Polo's built quality and interior quality is tad bit than the Swift or the Punto.

Can you give me the LINK please. Where TBhpians have reported their PUNTO rusting. Take your time to find the link.

[avmaxfan]

According to Autocar, The Grane Punto is still the best handling hatchback and also has the best Ride quality.
As far as interiors and premium feel, space, etc its the Fabia that sets the benchmark.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by arun1100

Can you give me the LINK please. Where TBhpians have reported their PUNTO rusting. Take your time to find the link.

Definitely Sir, I will look for them in detail and post them in the evening but here's what I found within five minutes of my search. In office at the moment, will search for more in the evening when I reach home.

Please note, I love Fiat's MJD. I loved the palio and still love the punto too. But thats only the drive and looks. The old indicas were prone to rust too (we had one at home), but this is Fiat and I believe there is a difference. Fiat does make some good cars, no doubt about that but I personally have not liked their quality here in India. The second gen punto that my frined had in UK, definately had much better quality. No offence to those who own a Fiat, due respect to every one, their cars are absolute VFM, very competitively priced and good too. Please note, I dont want to start any other Fiat VS other's war here. There are plenty any ways. I have never bothered to be a part of the debates on Fiat. Only once did I posted my views when I visited the Tata- Fiat showroom. These were just my views from a little bit I know.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1379784

Mr. amoghchaphalkar was being given a car with rusted parts, he noticed it during the pdi. He was almost on the verge of cancelling the car. He later got a new car. But the car he was being offered initially would have definitely been given to some other customer!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-customer.html

rust on the beading and beading changed under warrenty


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...t-linea-5.html

Here’s one for Linea too.

[CANPUSH]

Originally Posted by vid6639

It is the lack of basic features which don't cost much. They don't have vanity mirrors, there is no seat back pocket, there is no light in the boot, there is no rear defogger or wiper.

I don't mind not having climate control or no audio as anyways it will be of poor quality. But why remove the basic stuff like vanity mirrors, illuminated boot light or rear defogger and wiper. In a premium hatch atleast don't leave that big gaping gap in rear windshield meant for wiper.

I totally agree - Comfortline should have rear Wiper, washer and defogger, Vanity mirror and lamp in boot. These three features are more necessity tan luxury and can not be fitted later as aftermarket addon. Everything else like - alloy wheels, fog lamps, ICe can be certainly added later as per individual choice.

I think VW should listen and still make these additions to Comfortline trim.

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Furthermore, i20 looks good as well but thats because Europe's Vauxhall Corsa looks good as well.

just googled for the Vauxhall Corsa.

Yep..it looks strikingly similar to i20.

[formel_eins]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Definitely Sir, I will look for them in detail and post them in the evening but here's what I found within five minutes of my search. In office at the moment, will search for more in the evening when I reach home.

Please note, I love Fiat's MJD. I loved the palio and still love the punto too. But thats only the drive and looks. The old indicas were prone to rust too (we had one at home), but this is Fiat and I believe there is a difference. Fiat does make some good cars, no doubt about that but I personally have not liked their quality here in India. The second gen punto that my frined had in UK, definately had much better quality. No offence to those who own a Fiat, due respect to every one, their cars are absolute VFM, very competitively priced and good too. Please note, I dont want to start any other Fiat VS other's war here. There are plenty any ways. I have never bothered to be a part of the debates on Fiat. Only once did I posted my views when I visited the Tata- Fiat showroom. These were just my views from a little bit I know.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post1379784

Mr. amoghchaphalkar was being given a car with rusted parts, he noticed it during the pdi. He was almost on the verge of cancelling the car. He later got a new car. But the car he was being offered initially would have definitely been given to some other customer!

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...-customer.html

rust on the beading and beading changed under warrenty


http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...t-linea-5.html

Here’s one for Linea too.

ouchhh those pictures really hurt, hard to believe that fiat shall go to such extent in pretext of cost saving, anyways VW is providing 6 years of anti-corrosion warranty so atleast the polo owners wont get sleepless nights

[Sawyer]

I am a little surprised at the rust thing with current Fiats. When I bought my GTX in 2001, it had an unprecendented, for that time, rust warranty, and my memory is that it was 4 years. I kept the car for 8 years, and there was never a speck of rust anywhere on it.
I also have not come across any rust in the other cars I have owned in the last few years - Maruti, Honda, Mitsubishi. I also hear of rusting in some Fords. Strange, in this day and age, unless the body has been damaged and the rust has gotten hold later on some exposed metal.
Clarification: I am referring to the painted body rusting and corroding, not untreated parts like brake discs, where the rust builds up if the car is not used, and rubs off quickly in use. That I guess is normal and acceptable.