Volkswagen Virtus Production Begins: 95 Per Cent Localisation

Apart from that, the new Volkswagen Virtus sedan will maintain 95 per cent localisation for increased profit as part of the India 2.0 strategy.

Piyush Arora, the Managing Director of ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. said, "With the start of production of the New Virtus at our Chakan facility in Pune, we have successfully completed our commitment of launching two new products under the India 2.0 project based on the MQB A0 IN platform for the market under Volkswagen Brand."

Moreover, the upcoming Volkswagen Virtus sedan is built on the same MQB-A0 IN platform as the other vehicles under the Volkswagen Group such as the Taigun, Kushaq and Slavia. Thanks to this platform the Volkswagen Virtus sedan is almost a size bigger than the Volkswagen Vento.

Despite the relatively large dimension, the design of the Virtus sedan looks proportionate and the sharp lines further help the Virtus look contemporary.

In terms of features, the upcoming Volkswagen Virtus sedan will mimic the features list of other Volkswagen Group products such as the Volkswagen Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, and Skoda Slavia.

This means the upcoming Volkswagen Virtus sedan will come with a long list of features which will include a large 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a fully-digital instrument cluster, wireless charging pad, electric sunroof, automatic climate control, automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, cruise control, rear AC vents, auto headlamps, auto wipers and much more.

In addition to these, the Volkswagen Virtus sedan also comes with top-tier safety features such as 6-airbags, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), reversing camera, rear parking sensors, Traction Control (TC), ABS, EBD, and much more.

Coming to the powertrain, the Volkswagen Virtus comes with two engine options. The base engine option is a 1.0-litre TSI petrol engine with 113bhp of peak power and 178Nm of peak torque. This engine comes mated either to a 6-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed torque converter gearbox.

The next engine option is a larger 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine. This engine produces a class-leading 148bhp of peak power and 250Nm of peak torque. However, unlike the Skoda Slavia, this engine in the Volkswagen Virtus comes solely mated to a 7-speed DSG unit.

At present, the prices for the Skoda Slavia starts from Rs 10.69 lakh (ex-showroom, India) and we expect Volkswagen Virtus to be priced a few thousand rupees above the Slavia.

Thoughts About Volkswagen Virtus Sedan In India

With the launch of the Volkswagen Virtus sedan, the German automaker can claw back the lost ground and improve the overall sales figures in India.