India’s love for Sub four meter aka compact sedans is quite evident as cars like Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent sells like hot cakes. Going by the trend Ford launched its first sub 4m vehicle Figo Aspire in India this year which is getting decent response from the buyers. Now Volkswagen is peeping up to join the crowded yet competitive segment with its new compact sedan Ameo (tentative) as it was spotted on test run in Pune highway.
Volkswagen’s new model is expected to be showcased and launched at 2016 Indian auto expo. The Ameo will be produced at company’s manufacturing plant at Chakan, Pune alongside Vento and Polo and for the development of new model VW has invested over Rs. 720 crores. It will be interesting to see that Ameo will be Polo with added boot or smaller version of Vento.
The baby Vento is supposed to start around the Rs. 5.7 lakh mark and might go up to Rs. 9 lakh for the top end variant. Form the Snapshot, the design of Ameo appears to follow both Polo and Vento especially the L shaped taillights are reminiscent of Polo while fixed type headrests are taken from Vento.
Spy shots also partially reveal that Ameo will get beige interiors based on Vento while in terms of features and design it will get bin parts of Polo hatchback and Vento sedan such as cruise control, standard dual airbags and ABS, automatic climate control etc.
Under the hood we could see a 1.2-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol, a 1.0-litre petrol developing 90PS power and 140Nm of peak torque. For diesel powertrain, it will get a 1.5 TDI engine that produces 90PS and 105PS power, paired to both 5-speed manual and 7-speed DSG gearbox. Expect the mileage of petrol variants to be around 18-20 KMPL while the oil burner (diesel) might deliver close to 22 KMPL. If priced rightly, the new sub 4 metre might become a serious threat to its rivals.
