VW, Skoda Working On Compact Sedans For India

by Faisal Ali Khan

Published: October 22nd, 2012

vw skoda working on compact sedans for india

The Volkswagen Up! and Skoda Citigo are compact cars with a huge potential for emerging markets like India. As much as Indians love small cars, they are big fans of sedans too. Thus everyone wants to upgrade to a sedan as soon as possible. However, big sedans are priced quite high since they attract additional excise duty. In India, a car which is less than 4-meters in length and has a gasoline engine less than 1.2-litre capacity or diesel engine less than 1.5-litre capacity, is classified as a small car.

A small car attracts only 12% excise duty, as compared to 27% for big cars. No matter what the body type is, as long as the vehicle meets the above criteria, it is a small car. This small car classification has led to manufacturers coming up with compact sedans. The upcoming Ford EcoSport meets the conditions. Maruti Suzuki has developed a sub 4-meter version of the Swift DZire (Swift sedan), while Mahindra is working on a sub 4-meter Verito (Logan).

Volkswagen has also expressed its interest to develop a sub 4-meter compact sedan for the Indian market. This vehicle will use the underpinnings of the Up! and would challenge the Toyota Etios and Ford Classic (last generation Fiesta). Pricing could start at around $9,000 for the gasoline powered version, while the diesel powered model will retail at a $2000 premium. Skoda will follow up with a sedan version of the Citigo as well, which can help them boost volumes significantly in the sedan loving continent.

Does a three-box with limited trunk capacity appeal to you?

Faisal Ali Khan is the owner/operator of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the auto industry of India.

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10 comments

Tatracitroensaab on Oct 22, 2012

I doubt that these things would appeal to many people on this site, although actually the sedan rendering of the up! doesnt look half bad... I think this could do okay in America - a more premium looking vehicle for those who want something cheap, fuel efficient, and small...

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- Faisal Ali Khan on Oct 22, 2012
  
  I don't there is too much of a sedan culture in America. People would prefer to get the crossover based on the Up! instead - the Tiagun!
  
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- Ranwhenparked on Oct 23, 2012
  
  @Faisal Ali Khan Light trucks are more popular than passenger cars here, but when it comes to cars, Americans absolutely prefer notch backs to hatcbacks. I believe the Fiesta is the only current model where the hatch version outsells the sedan (which Ford developed specifically to improve the car's chances here), and that fact really has caught everyone by surprise, including Ford. Conventional wisdom is that hatchback = crappy 1970s econobox, sedan = respectable modern car. You would think the success of the Prius would have changed that perception, but I don't think it really has. The Prius is it's own thing, people don't see it as a midsize hatchback, they just see it as a Prius. And note that this Prius has a surprisingly convenient trunk.
  
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DeadWeight on Oct 22, 2012

VAG, you sonofabeeyotches!! We in the U.S. want...no...DEMAND...Skoda Yetis!

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Krhodes1 on Oct 22, 2012

I don't understand the desire for tiny sedans in any market. The smaller the car, the more useful a hatch becomes, and the more useless a trunk becomes. And don't even get me started on all the current mid-size swoopy-coupey sedans that LOOK like hatchbacks, but have a tiny little trunk opening. At least the Up! and Citigo have upright rooflines that might mean normal size people can sit in the back seats.

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- TonyJZX on Oct 23, 2012
  
  it's a BRIC thing? apparently to some, a sedan is more upscale than a hatch i would think a faux SUV would be most practical for developing worlds 4wd is perhaps overrated on unsealed roads
  
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- Faisal Ali Khan on Oct 23, 2012
  
  @TonyJZX Bingo, that is why the Taigun has been made.
  
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- Marcelo de Vasconcellos on Oct 23, 2012
  
  In India its different, but in Brazil, the current crop of small sedans are blurring the lines. Traditionlly, sedans derived from compact hatches were smaller than say a Focus or Corolla sedan. Now the Cobalt is longer than the Cruze, has more internal space and a larger trunk. The Logan, though shorter than Corolla has a larger trunk, longer wheelbase and more internal space. For 50 to 60% of the price. What's not to like? Oh, those trunks swallow up much more baggage than our traditional hatch trunks. Of course if you fold he seats in the hatch...But then you can't ransport your family. Understand better now?
  
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- Krhodes1 on Oct 23, 2012
  
  @Marcelo de Vasconcellos Hatches don't have to be the sawed-off shorter versions of sedans that they typically were in the 70's. As in many things, Saab was way ahead in this - build the hatch on the same plan as a sedan, and get simply TONS of cargo room and convenient loading. And as I said, if you are going to style the car so that it LOOKS like a 5dr hatch, you might as well make it a hatch and reap the benefits. A styling feature that harkens back to when a "trunk" was literally a steamer trunk strapped to the back of the car makes no sense to me at all. Why not have separate flowing fenders and strapped on chrome headlight nacelles too?
  
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Rental Man on Oct 22, 2012

Badonkadonk. These cars need more Junk in the Trunk.

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