2020 Volkswagen Vento Launched in Russia: What has Changed?
The 2020 Volkswagen Vento (Polo Sedan) for Russia receives new exterior, feature-loaded cabin and new engines.
The 2020 Volkswagen Vento (also known as new Polo sedan in select international markets) has been launched in the Russia market. In Russia, the new Vento is available at a starting price of RUB 7,92,900 (INR 8.37 lakh). The sedan is extremely popular in India as well as in global markets. It shares the platform, some design cues and interior with the sibling hatchback, the Volkswagen Polo. The new Volkswagen Vento will also go on sale in the Indian market in 2021.
What’s New?
The 2020 Vento comes with all-new design, which is more elegant than the outgoing model. Featuring sleeker profile, the new Volkswagen Vento shares some of the design features from the Virtus mid-sized sedan on sale in the North American markets. It features new prominent grille with chrome surround and large VW logo in the centre. The sedan gets completely redesigned LED headlamp and LED tail-lamp setup. It features the new 16-inch alloys. Surprisingly, the new model retains the same PQ25 platform that also underpins the model it replaces. This platform also underpins the current-gen Polo hatchback and the Vento sedan in India.
It looks like that the next Volkswagen Vento will also arrive in the Russian market. For the Indian market, the next-gen Vento will be based on the locally developed MQB AO IN platform. This platform will also underpin the VW Taigun mid-sized SUV. The next-gen Vento for the Russian market could also utilise the MQB AO platform.
In terms of proportions, the new 2020 Volkswagen Vento is 4,483mm in length, 1,706 mm in width and 1,484 mm in height. The sedan offers a luggage carrying capacity of 550-litres, which is 70-litres more than the previous model. The previous model was 4,390mm long, 1,699 wide and 1,467mm tall.Also See – Upcoming Volkswagen Cars in India
Interior Changes
The 2020 Volkswagen Vento has received significant changes inside the cabin. It looks classier with high-end features like large infotainment system, newly designed dashboard with minimalistic design and modern instrument console. It features a large 10.25-inch Active Info Display and an 8-inch Composition Media floating touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. The cabin looks bolder and premium than the previous model. In fact, the quality of the materials and fit finish is top notch and seems better than the previous model.
Under the hood
The new 2020 Volkswagen Vento is available with 3 engine options for the Russian market. The base model gets a 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine producing 89bhp and 155Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the front wheels via a 5-speed manual gearbox. The higher variants are available with more powerful version of the 1.6L unit, which will produce 108bhp of power and 155Nm of torque. Transmission choices will include a 5-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic. The range-topping 2020 Volkswagen Vento sports a 1.4-litre TSI turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine that produces 123bhp of power and 200Nm of torque. Power will be transmitted to the front wheels via a 7-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
New Vento India Launch?
Volkswagen won’t launch this Vento in our market. Instead, the German automaker is working on all-new model for the Indian market. It will be designed and developed on the heavily localised MQB AO IN platform, which will also underpin the VW Taigun mid-sized SUV. The new-gen Volkswagen Vento will arrive in our market in the second half of 2021. It is expected that the India-spec new Vento could be launched as the Virtus in our market.
