Rumour: Skoda Rapid might get VW's 1.2L TSI engine

Skoda is reportedly planning to introduce a new petrol engine in the Rapid sedan. At present the car is offered with a 1.6-litre naturally aspirate petrol unit. This step is being taken after noticing continued increase in customer interest towards petrol-powered cars.

The engine in question is Volkswagen's 1.2-litre TSI turbo-petrol unit that also powers the Rapid's badge-engineered sibling - the Volkswagen Vento. Reports suggest that the Rapid will continue to be powered by the 1.6-litre MPI naturally aspirated engine in the manual variants, while the automatic models will get the 1.2-litre turbocharged TSI unit. This powerplant will be mated to a 7-speed DSG gearbox, which is currently offered only with the diesel version of the Rapid.

The Rapid is currently the most important car for Skoda in India. Since the company's Indian portfolio starts with the Rapid, it bears the burden of bringing respectable sales volumes for the automaker. To keep the model line fresh, the company recently launched the facelifted Rapid in India, which gets a revamped front fascia, added features and the new 1.5-litre TDI engine. A limited edition variant, called the Rapid Monte Carlo edition, is also in the pipeline.

Source: Autocar India