The VW Virtus arrived soon after the sixth-gen VW
Polo. A new report from
CARmag.co.za suggests that the all-new VW Polo-based sedan will stay in Latin
America for now.
With the sixth-gen VW Polo hatchback’s launch in
South Africa, the old VW Polo Vivo (fourth-gen VW Polo hatchback) was
discontinued and the fifth-gen VW Polo was launched as the new VW Polo Vivo in
South Africa.
Based on that move, it was expected that the old VW
Polo Vivo Sedan will get discontinued and the VW Polo Sedan (VW Vento) will
become the new VW Polo Vivo Sedan, paving way for an all-new VW Polo Sedan (VW
Virtus). The VW Polo Vivo was locally manufactured, while the VW Polo Sedan is
sourced from India.
Volkswagen South Africa has no plans to launch the
MQB A0 platform-based VW Polo Sedan sold in Latin America. The company says
that “the sedan segment is declining in importance rapidly” because of the
shift in preference towards SUVs. Instead, it will launch “a number of new
SUVs” in the future.
The VW Virtus is unlikely to enter production in
India until 2022. For now, it will likely be sold only in Latin America. Here,
it will arrive only if the Volkswagen Group decides to localise a low-cost
version of the MQB A0 platform called ‘MQB A0 IN’. The first products expected
from this platform are the Skoda Vision X concept and VW T-Cross Breeze
concept’s production versions, which could arrive in 2021.
