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The Volkswagen Group has big plans for India. It doesn’t start and end with the Polo, if that’s what you thought. They will launch an all-new Jetta next year, which will be bigger and more feature loaded than before. Then there will be a new Touareg SUV as well, ready to make life difficult for not just its Audi and Porsche brethren but even those from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It’s even talking about a sub-Polo small car that might be badged as a Skoda as well. They have even appointed a Bugatti dealer in India, for crying out loud, and there’s talk of expanding Audi’s manufacturing and retail capacity as well. And before all of that happens, they will launch the Vento, arguably their second most important car for India.
Based on the Polo platform, the Vento (which means wind in Italian) is taller, longer and wider than its hatch sibling. At 4.4 metres long, it is longer than the Hyundai Verna but a touch shorter than the Honda City, the Maruti Suzuki SX4 and Fiat Linea (See box Contra Vento). Unlike other saloons based on hatches, the Vento doesn’t look like the boot has been attached to it as an afterthought; rather, it has been designed as if it were an all-new car. It looks balanced and keeps Walter Da Silva’s lines in perfect nick.
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