Indian auto sector is steadily recovering from its sales slump. Volkswagen and its sister brand Skoda are also developing a slew of new cars for the Indian market. While some of these upcoming cars are confirmed and the other remain speculative.
Here are upcoming Skoda and VW cars that will launch this year.
Skoda Kodiaq facelift
The SUV has minor design modifications over the previous (BS4) generation. It will come powered with a 2.0-liter turbo-petrol engine instead of the previous 2.0-liter turbo-diesel engine, and upgrade The equipment list.
Skoda Slavia
Skoda will shortly debut the Slavia sedan in India, replacing Rapid. It is built on the 'MQB A0 IN' platform. The Slavia is bigger than the Rapid, with sharper styling and more advanced equipment. There will be two engine options – a 1.0L turbo-petrol (115 PS/178 Nm) and a 1.5L turbo-petrol (150 PS/250 Nm) – similar to the Kushaq and VW Taigun.
Volkswagen Virtus
Volkswagen is developing a new mid-size sedan for India. The new car will replace the VW Vento. The new model will compete against the Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, and Honda City. Like Skoda Slavia, it will be built on the MQB AO IN platform developed by the Volkswagen Group, which also underpins the Taigun and Kushaq.
Additionally, the sedan will share powertrain options with its SUV siblings. There will be two engine options: a 113bhp, 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder petrol, and a 147bhp, 1.5L turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, which will be available in automatically manual transmissions.
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace facelift
A few months ago, VW discontinued the Tiguan Allspace in India, but we expect a facelifted version to arrive shortly. Although the new SUV will have new styling, it will be mechanically unchanged. It will retain the 2.0L turbo-petrol engine (190 PS/320 Nm) under the hood.
New-generation Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo was launched in India in 2010 and has stayed almost unchanged since then! The ageing Polo has got behind the competition, and the VW hatchback needs a facelift. Maybe shortly after the Virtus debut, the new-generation Polo will arrive in India in 2022.