Will Volkswagen Vento shake up the sedan market

The Honda City, is an all new rival shaping up to snap at your heels! It is the one who makes the Polo saloon at its mega purpose-built facility at Chakan near Pune is gearing up to launch a notchback saloon version of its Polo hatch. It is significant that a saloon should be the follow-up model on the base Polo platform because the present generation City is in fact based on Honda's brilliant Jazz hot hatch architecture. This approach of the two manufacturers, even though appearing similar, has to be seen in the light of how their respective product planning strategies would unravel.

While Honda has made the City as its low cost saloon offering for emerging Asian markets, Volkswagen's strategy has been to target the emerging BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China ) markets. Proof of this came just last week when Volkswagen took the wraps of the Polo saloon in Moscow, Russia being the first country to get this car, which in India will sport the Vento model name. The Russian market is huge, with the potential of a similar order to India but what is also important is that the terrain and the infrastructure there is also similar to that in India, in fact some of it is pretty extreme in its intensity and when factored with the climatic conditions, the situation is pretty tough all around.

Keeping this sort of an operating condition in mind, the new Polo saloon, nee Vento has been configured to provide a robust build while having enough on the flair quotient to come across as a stylishly contemporary automobile. And what is of even more significance is that the car has been priced exceedingly competitively, the wellequipped standard base version starting from just a shade over Euros 10,000! If this thought process is replicated here in India as well, the Polo-Vento duo could have many on the run and help Volkswagen to stamp its mark on the people's segments in ample measure.

Understated looks of the Polo but the way the VW designers have crafted the notchback portion makes for a car with very pleasing proportions and also visually very appealing. The curvy roofline is elegantly drawn that not only makes the car look stylish but also gives it a very confident poise overall. The Polo in its sedan guise as Vento tends further towards sophistication and luxury than the sporty and aggressive lines of the hatch design. The creases running alongside the car are very modern and the six-spoke alloy wheels further compliment its looks.

The Vento has been designed and tuned keeping in mind the demands of the Indian buyer in the premium entry level sedan market. The suspension has been beefed up to offer a comfortable ride quality on the Indian roads without compromising on handling. Also expect the wheelbase to be enhanced so as to offer more cabin space, something which dogs the Polo against its rivals. The Vento though, will come loaded with all the bells and whistles seen on modern-day sedans including Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) and airbags.