Volkswagen Group had announced to complete cease diesel engine sale in the Indian market. However, the brand is exploring alternate fuel option to drive sales in the highly competitive environment. Under the VW Groups India Plan 2.0, Volkswagen and Skoda will launch 4 new cars based on the locally developed MQB AO IN Platform. These models will be launched before the end of the next financial year, and the first model will arrive in the second quarter of 2021.
It seems like Skoda is exploring CNG engine option for the upcoming products. While the passenger vehicles sales in India fell 18% last year, CNG car sales increased by 7% in the FY20. In fact, Government of India has decided to expand the network of 2,200 CNG stations to 10,000 in 10 years. With this push, the sales of the CNG cars are expected to increase in the near future.
Skoda has started testing the current Rapid CNG. In fact, Zac Hollis, Director of Skoda Auto India confirmed that it is a project and the final decision on launching CNG cars is yet to be made. Adding to it, during Auto Expo 2020, Volkswagen Group had hinted about the CNG vehicles in their new India 2.0 Plan.
VW Group’s new 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol and a 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engines can be paired to a CNG kit. In fact, the Group is selling the factory-fitted CNG cars in some international markets. The European-spec Volkswagen Polo gets a 1.0L TGI engine, which is nothing but the factory-fitted CNG Polo. This powertrain produces 89bhp and 160Nm of torque. On the other hand, the regular 1.0L TSI engine produces 108bhp and 175Nm of torque.
Similarly, the 1.5-litre TGI engine in the VW Golf offers 128bhp. This is around 20bhp less than the regular TSI engine, which powers the Skoda Karoq. In fact, Skoda’s Kamiq mid-sized SUV (based on the MQB AO platform) is also available with 90bhp, 1.0L petrol + CNG engine. The 1.5L turbocharged petrol engine will also power the upcoming Skoda Vision IN based mid-sized SUV. It will be offered with a 7-speed DSG gearbox.
The next-gen Skoda Rapid and the Vision IN SUV will also be offered with the 1.0-litre TSI engine that also powers the current Rapid, Polo and the Vento. This engine will be offered with 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque convertor automatic gearbox options. While the Vision IN based SUV will be launched in the Q2, 2021, the new Rapid will arrive in the end of 2021.
