New Polo launched at the tenth Auto Expo in New Delhi
It’s been coming for a while, but today Volkswagen finally unveiled the newest version of the fifth-generation Polo today at the tenth Auto Expo in New Delhi. It joins the German carmaker’s line-up which already includes the New Beetle, Jetta, Passat and Touareg and was rumoured to be a traditional notchback saloon. That still may come of course, but at last Indian buyers can at last take a look at the car which will be produced locally at Volkswagen’s new high-tech Chakan, Pune plant.
Long-awaited, the new Indian market Polo will appear in the country’s 40 dealers in March, in the three basic continental market trims (Trendline, Comfortline and Highline), and with two engines – a 74bhp petrol and a TDI unit with the same output. All versions will come with a five-speed manual gearbox. Changes over the European version are minimal. Going by the supplied pictures, the headlights have silver upper edges (the European versions are shaded) and as anticipated, there may be a minor rise in ride height.
Speaking at the Auto Expo unveiling, Prof Dr Jochem Heizmann, Member of the Board of Management, Volkswagen AG with responsibility for Group Production, said, ‘The Volkswagen brand plays an important role in our success story. The new Polo is a key player in our ongoing strategy. It is an outstanding model in the exceptional range of the Volkswagen Group.’ Almost 50 percent localisation has already been achieved for the new Polo at the Pune factory with a target of around 80 percent within the next two to three years. The first Indian market production Polo rolled off the lines on 12 December 2009.
