New Volkswagen Virtus to be launched in Brazil

Volkswagen has announced its plans to launch the Virtus in Brazil. The vehicle will be based on the MQB platform, a very first for the Brazilian market. This also includes the Volkswagen cars in India, namely – Polo, Vento and the Ameo. The upcoming Polo based crossover is also expected to be based on the MQB platform. The Virtus is expected to launch in Brazil in 2018 and in fact, over two months ago, a Volkswagen test car was spotted in Brazil and the speculation is that it may very well have been the first sighting of the Virtus.

Regarding the positioning in the range, Volkswagen has long needed a model to fill the gap between the Voyage and the Jetta, a space that was occupied previously by the Polo Sedan. Based on the MQB-A0 platform, the new model might also get engine options similar to those that are currently offered in the Golf, such as turbocharged 1.0 TSI and 1.4 TSI.

In India, Volkswagen will move a step ahead in creating a premium identity for itself, which means that future Volkswagen cars based on the MQB platform will be more expensive than the current ones. The recent Tata-Skoda collaboration will mean that the Volkswagen’s sub-brand will focus on budget friendly models. Moving forward, we can expect to see Volkswagen cars to carry a starting price tag of Rs 7.0 lakh in country. The upcoming Polo cross is expected to compete against the likes of Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster in our country.