German auto-giant Volkswagen has been a strong brand in the Indian market. Proof? Volkswagen rolled out 400,000th car, a face-lifted version of Polo Highline diesel variant from its Chakan plant in Pune, India. The company has been producing cars for the Indian market since early 2009. Speaking more on the occasion, Mr. Mahesh Kodumudi, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Limited said, “With over 400,000 cars produced at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the domestic as well as export market, we have firmly established our operations. We will continue to focus on productivity and further localization to cater to the demand from our markets.”
The Chakan plant began operation in March 2009 and spread over 575 acres. The state-of-art facility has a work force of over 3,500 people and is capable of producing about 1,30,000 vehicles annually. Recently, Volkswagen has launched a face-lifted version of Polo hatchback in Petrol as well as diesel engine options. Except for the introduction of a newer diesel engine, the Polo hatchback has only received cosmetic upgrades this time around.
Petrol variant of face-lift Polo continues to be powered with the same 1.2 Litre, three pot, engine that belts out a top power output of 75 PS. A five-speed manual transmission is mated to the petrol motor. Whereas, for the diesel version Volkswagen has introduced a new 1.5-litre diesel power-train, meant to perform as an upgraded replacement for the older engine. The 1.5 litre, four cylinder diesel mill offers varied power and torque output of about 90 PS and 230 Nm of torque and 105 PS and 250 Nm of torque from another respectively.
The petrol version is offered at a starting price of about Rs. 4.99 Lakh, while the top end version is available for Rs 6.07 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The diesel version is offered at a starting price tag of about Rs. 6.27 Lakhs to about Rs. 7.37 Lakhs for the top end variant.
