Honda City has ruled the mid-size sedan segment so far. It is the main model that has generated volumes for Honda. Volkswagen had so far stayed out of the volume segment but 2010 has been a different story altogether for the company. It launched its small car model VW Polo which is a hatchback and now last week it unveiled its mid-size sedan model Volkswagen Vento. Now it looks like the Vento may form a challenge for the City.
The Vento had created a bit of a stir in the market with its looks, though a drive has not been possible so far. Volkswagen will introduce petrol as well as diesel variant of the model which will lend a competitive edge to Vento over City as the latter is available only as a petrol variant. Both the companies have a good track record in providing after-sales services and giving complete customer satisfaction. If VW Vento proves its worth in the driving experience then Honda may have to bring diesel variant of City sooner than planned.
One of the concerns is Volkswagen’s ability to meet the market demand. It is still grappling with backlog issues for Volkswagen Polo. It badly needs to ramp up its production and clear pending orders. It has so far delivered only 4000 units in three months and still has 10,000 orders pending for Polo. With the launch of Vento, Volkswagen will definitely need to step up its assembly to meet the demand for Polo and new bookings for Vento. As per the last statement from Volkswagen official, the company has no immediate plans to alter its production schedule and shall go ahead with its original plan to cater to the market demand.
Volkswagen Vento is expected to be priced around Rs. 7-9 lakh which means it will be comfortably placed between top-end Ford Fiesta and Honda City.
