NEW DELHI -- German automaker Volkswagen, which has recently been in the news for flouting emission norms, made the global launch of its latest compact sedan Ameo in India on Tuesday.
Ameo, the first sub four-metre sedan from Volkswagen, will compete with Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Ford Figo Aspire and Honda Amaze. The car will be available in two variants – a 1.2 litre three-cylinder petrol engine and a 1.5 litre four-cylinder diesel engine.
The Ameo, which according to the company, has been designed and engineered specifically for the Indian market, will be manufactured at Volkswagen’s Chakan plant in Maharashtra.
“We unveil our first ever made-for-India carline, Volkswagen Ameo. The compact sedan segment continues to garner much interest among Indian consumers,” Volkswagen Passenger Cars Board Member for Sales and Marketing Jürgen Stackmann said. He added that the company will be launching four new models during the next fiscal year.
During the next fiscal year, we will be launching 4 new models, bringing our greatest model range ever to the Indian showrooms.”
The compact sedan category has become a highly competitive segment in the Indian market after the government lowered the excise duty on cars with which are less than four metres in length to 12%, as against a 30% duty on bigger cars. According to industry estimates, around 70% of car sales are clocked in the sub-four-metre segment.
While the petrol version of the Ameo will be available only with a five-speed manual gearbox, the diesel model come in two variants –-with a five-speed manual transmission and a seven-speed DSG automatic.
Safety features such as dual front airbags and ABS will be standard features on all models. The car will come with body-coloured bumpers.
“Ameo will be equipped with first in segment features like cruise control, rain sensing wipers along with static cornering lights and the dynamic Touchscreen multimedia music system with Mirror link, I-pod connectivity, phonebook and SMS viewer,” the company said in a release.
The Ameo will be displayed at the Delhi Auto Expo.
Contact HuffPost India
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