VW Polo Sedan Named The Vento, Launch In July

The VW Polo sedan that we showed you earlier will be here sooner than you expect. Autocar India has reported that Volkswagen has christened the Polo sedan Vento for the Indian market and will be launched as early as July this year.

The name Vento which means ‘wind’ in both Italian and Portugese is slated to go on sale as early as July this year. India will be one of the most important market for the Vento and VW is hoping to sell 25,000 units every year once the production starts in full swing.

The new Vento (codenamed VW251 internally) shares the same platform as the recently launched Polo but with wheelbase which has been lengthened by 50mm to liberate more interior room. The front fascia is slightly different with a different grille and head lights to differenciate it from the its hatchback cousin.

source: AutocarIndia

VW engineers have taken Honda City as the benchmark and are hinting at class leading comfort and boot space which is said to be in the region of 500 litres. Equipment levels will be higher than the Polo hatchback while the top end version may also take some features from the Jetta saloon.

The VW Vento will come with two engine options at launch – a petrol and diesel each. The petrol option will be the 1.6 litre engine from the older Jetta which has been suitably modified with dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) and a 4 valve head. The engine will deliver 105 bhp of maximum power and 15.8 kgm of maximum torque.

The diesel would be A brand new 1.6 litre unit which is based on the same family as the Polo 1.2 and the Jetta 2.0. Under the hood of the Vento, the new diesel engine will deliver 105 bhp of maximum power (indentical to the petrol) but more importantly 25.5 kgm of turning force!

The performance is expected to sprightly since the Vento wont be more than 100 kgs heavier than the Polo hatch while the fuel efficiency is expected to very good considering both the engines have been tuned for fuel economy and driveability rather than outright performance.

The new VW Vento is expected to be priced between 7-9 lakh with the scheduled launch of July 2010.  With its blend of german engineering and refinement and a range of powerful fuel efficient engines, the new Vento might turn out to be the leader in the Indian midsize segment. Honda City has already been warned.