Volkswagen has just given the Vento a second facelift in just less than a year. The interesting bit is that both the facelifts incorporated findings from customer studies. Speaking to Autocar India, Kamal Basu, head, marketing and PR, Volkswagen India said, “When we asked Vento customers about the car, they always got back giving the car good marks across parameters. But if there was one place where they said it was lagging, it was design. The facelift addresses that. ”
VW’s designers have made concerted attempts to enhance the Vento’s styling, which was widely considered to be on the bland side. While 2014’s update saw the inclusion of new double barrel headlights, a different design for the alloy wheels and tweaks elsewhere, the bigger changes were in the cabin; the new trim colours, silver finish on the centre console and the flat-bottomed steering wheel were the real the talking points of the makeover. However, the car for 2015 is a more comprehensive restyle. There’s a new Passat-like front grille, the front bumper is different, the rear bumper has been re-profiled, the revised tail lamps get an LED effect and there’s a chrome strip on the boot lid too. In effect, the Vento has a lot more ‘flash’ value than before, something Indian buyers seem to have wanted.
But VW insiders also pointed out such styling exercises need not be carried out on all models destined for India, less so higher up the price ladder. The belief is that many car buyers are drawn to VWs for their understated design, and ‘overstyled’ models could alienate this buyer base. In a sense, what may work for a Polo or Vento buyer, need not work for a Jetta or Passat buyer.
That said, updates to the Polo and Vento over the past year seem to be working for VW India, though. A favourable response to both models has allowed the manufacturer to better last year’s sales for five straight months; June sales were up 31 percent over the same period of the previous year. True, the 4,039-unit sales figure is not big in absolute terms, but it does give an indication that VW seems to finally be on the up in India.
Read our VW Vento facelift review