Volkswagen's Dzire rival to debut soon

Almost a year back, we had reported about Volkswagen India re-considering its targets due to the lukewarm response for its products as well as the dominance of major players like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai in the country. But in the guidance of Michael Mayer, who took reins over the German carmaker’s Indian arm during the same time, the company is now planning to regain its lost ground with four new products between 2015 and 2016.

First and the most important of the four introductions will be a compact sedan, which we’ve been hearing about quite long now. Developed ‘in and for’ the Indian market especially, as this segment doesn't exist elsewhere, the new compact sedan will enter one of the fastest growing fast growing and highly competitive segment. Dominated by Maruti Suzuki DZire by a long margin, other players like Honda Amaze and Hyundai Xcent are also in a race to the podium. Ford’s all-new Aspire is also set to enter the arena this month, making the segment even hotter, featuring several segment-first features.

The overall segment size is around 3,00,000 units a year and posted a decent 5-8 percent during 2014-15. Being a relatively late entrant in the segment, Volkswagen still believes that its three-pronged focus on quality, safety and driveability will help the new model though.

Apart from the sub-compact sedan, the other three offerings will include the new Passat and the new model of iconic Beetle, while one would be a bigger SUV from their global portfolio, most probably the Tiguan, which will most likely follow the CKD route.

Ford Figo Aspire Vs. Maruti Suzuki DZire, read here