BOB SHARE

Volkswagen has announced a price increase of its popular sedan Volkswagen Vento Diesel by about 2.2%. The price hike has been announced in the wake of rising input costs. The surprising fact is that that the prices of the Petrol variant of Vento have not been revised as yet, rather there are offering an attractive interest rate of 6.99% PA for finance deals on Volkswagen Vento Petrol. One of the primary reasons for keeping the price differential is the increased demand for Diesel cars after the last increase in Petrol Prices in India after which more and more buyers are considering Diesel options of the economy cars to keep their budgets under control.

The Vento diesel has been well accepted in the market since its launch in September 2010. Its quality and drivability have won the Vento many accolades. We want to continue maintaining the same standard and quality for our customers. However, we have seen no relent in the input costs over several months now, which has forced us to increase the cost of the Vento. We are fully aware that customers who prefer the petrol variants are already faced with the burden of increased fuel costs and therefore we have decided to continue absorbing the additional costs for our petrol variants.

The customers can still book their Vento Diesel at the current prices till 30th June 2011 as the increased prices will come into effect only after 1st July 2011. So if you have been planning for a Vento Diesel, you should make your booking before July otherwise you may end up paying about Rs. 20,000 more.

All along, June 2011 was the anticipated launch month for the 2011 Chevrolet Beat Diesel, as confirmed by General Motors India officials themselves. However, there seems to be a slight delay in the Beat Diesel’s launch, which now will in July 2011. While we don’t know why exactly GM India has postponed the launch to July 2011, our sources tell us that the Beat Diesel is ready for launch with the conclusion of all the required testing and certification of the car.

When it will get launched, the Chevrolet Beat Diesel is expected to be cheapest entry level Diesel car in the Indian market, even under cutting the Tata Indica eV2. The launch of the Chevrolet Beat Diesel could also herald a new era of value priced diesel cars in India with fuel economy as the main selling point. This, as the petrol prices hovering at the INR 70/Liter mark has forced many car  manufacturers to do a major rethink on their car development plans as diesel engined cars are set to become the volume pullers in the near future.

So, a sub INR 4 Lakh price tag for the Chevrolet Diesel Beat could be a very strong possibility. The Beat Diesel will come with a 3 pot CRDI Engine producing 57 Bhp and 140 Nm of torque, tuned mainly for driveability and fuel economy. What remains to be seen is how smooth and vibe free the three pot diesel engine can be as most three cylinder engines suffer from higher vibration levels necessitating the use of a balancer shaft to keep the intrusive vibes away.

All said, the arrival of the Beat Diesel could do to General Motors India, what the Figo has been doing for Ford India. In short, create a big spurt in volumes which, at a time when car sales are experiencing a slowdown, could do a world of good. So, the Beat Diesel will essentially unleash the full potential of the zany looking small car whose sales, despite the availability of an LPG variant have been tepid to say the least.