The Volkswagen Virtus has been spotted testing in India undisguised. While the Virtus itself is unlikely to come to India, it does give us a few clues on what we could expect for the VW's India-specific Vento’s successor. Incidentally, the Virtus too is based on the global-spec MQB-AO platform and debuted in 2017 in South America.
So Volkswagen could be testing the Virtus
in India to see how the platform responds to Indian driving conditions or it
could even be testing certain India-specific components. There is a possibility
that some bits from the Virtus could make it to the India-specific sedan as
well. In terms of design, the Virtus is borrows bits from a variety of other
Volkswagen models. For example, the front-end seems inspired the sixth-gen Polo
sold abroad while the rear-end resembles the Passat.
The Virtus is also quite a bit longer than
the Vento with a length of 4480 mm and a wheelbase of 2650 mm. The India-specific
Vento replacement will thus definitely be larger than the current Vento. The
Virtus also comes well equipped with features such as a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, 8-inch
touchscreen infotainment system, automatic climate control, auto-dimming rearview
mirrors and more. Under the hood, the upcoming Vento successor will be powered
by the 110 hp/175 Nm 1.0L TSI engine with a 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque
converter gearbox.
The MQB-AO platform is also capable of
handling the larger 1.5L TSI petrol engine from VW's stable and that too could
be thrown in on higher-spec variants or for a more performance focused model.
The Volkswagen Vento successor is expected to debut around Diwali 2021, and
that's the same time we are expecting the Rapid replacement as well. Expect a
premium over the Vento’s current INR 8.93 lakh to 13.39 lakh (ex-showroom)
price range. It will continue its rivalry with the likes of the Honda City,
Hyundai Verna and the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.
