Volkswagen Beetle to be launched this year

Volkswagen will be launching the Beetle in India in the second half of 2015. The Beetle coming to India will be the 1.4-litre TSI and not the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol that had come the last time. This is the same engine that also powers the VW Jetta as well. The Beetle will come with a six-speed self-shifting transmission. This 1390cc engine will produce 160bhp of power and will be a direct competition to the Mini Cooper S and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

At the moment, there are no plans for the diesel. Our sources suggest that the company is looking at local assembly at the Chakan plant.

Volkswagen is looking at increasing its localization and production at Chakan and even Aurangabad.

With the new Beetle, Volkswagen will be looking at increasing its localization as even BMW is assembling some Mini products in its Chennai plant and even Fiat has plans to do the same with the Abarth 500.

Volkswagen is looking at increasingly introducing new products in its line-up and in the next 24 months, there will four new products. One of them is the Beetle, the second will be the compact sedan. The new-generation Passat could be the third model and fourth might be an SUV, which is likely to be Tiguan. This way the German brand will be expanding its Indian product portfolio and enhancing its reach in the current Indian market. The Beetle will be the first of the four new products that will make its way into India.

The Vento 2015 is due to be launched in India in early June itself.