New Virtus sedan will share its underpinnings with the upcoming Skoda Slavia.
19 Aug 2021 | 50803 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
Even as Volkswagen India rolled out its first and highly localised Taigun from its Chakan, Pune plant yesterday, the German carmaker has begun gearing up for its next product launch – the Virtus sedan. Autocar India, sister title to Autocar Professional, has confirmed that this new sedan will see ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Even as Volkswagen India rolled out its first and highly localised Taigun from its Chakan, Pune plant yesterday, the German carmaker has begun gearing up for its next product launch – the Virtus sedan. Autocar India, sister title to Autocar Professional, has confirmed that this new sedan will see a global debut sometime in February next year and prices will be announced by late April 2022.
Volkswagen India had earlier planned to unveil the sedan at Auto Expo 2022 which was slated to place in February but now postponed. Nonetheless, the company will stick to its plan of unveiling the Virtus sometime in February 2022.
Larger than Vento
The sedan will go on sale sometime in April next year. Speaking to Autocar India, Ashish Gupta - Volkswagen Passenger Cars India’s Brand Director said, "We will be starting production of the car somewhere around February or March and there will be a market introduction by end of April."
Based on the Volkswagen Group’s modular MQB A0 platform, the Virtus is considerably larger than the Vento available in India. It is 4482mm long, 1751mm wide and 1472mm tall, making it 92mm longer, 52mm wider and 5mm taller than the Vento. Additionally, at 2651mm, its wheelbase is 98mm longer than the Vento’s 2553mm. The new sedan’s MQB A0 IN platform is also shared by the Taigun, and hence both models (along with their Skoda twins) have an identical wheelbase.
The Virtus sedan is already on sale overseas. However, India could get the face-lifted model that will be revealed soon. Expect the sedan's feature list to mimic the ones seen on the Taigun SUV. These would include a 10.25-inch VW Play infotainment system, a full-digital instrument cluster, automatic climate control and a few other goodies.
As far as powertrain options go, the Volkswagen Virtus sedan for India is likely to carry forward the current Vento’s 110hp, 1.0-litre TSI turbo-petrol engine. Additionally, a larger 150hp, 250Nm, 1.5-litre, four-cylinder TSI engine will also be offered. Gearbox options for the 1.0 TSI will likely include both a 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. The 1.5 TSI, on the other hand, is expected to come with a sole 7-speed DSG automatic gearbox, similar to the Taigun.
Volkswagen India, which has sold 6,553 units in the April-July 2021 period, currently has a 0.72 percent share of the passenger vehicle market.