The Volkswagen Vento AT and Polo GT TSI have been given updated introductory prices. The VW Polo GT TSI is priced at Rs 9.67 lakh while the VW Vento Highline Plus AT costs Rs 12.99 lakh (ex-showroom, pan-India), and these are the only variants the automatic gearbox is available in for each model. Both are available to book at the brand’s dealerships and via Volkswagen’s online portal.

• Volkswagen Polo GT TSI AT priced at Rs 9.67 lakh
• Volkswagen Vento Highline Plus AT priced at Rs 12.99 lakh
• Polo AT prices up by Rs 8,000 while Vento AT prices lower by Rs 30,000
• Deliveries set to begin from September 15, 2020

Why has Volkswagen announced new prices for the Polo and Vento automatic?

While VW India had announced prices for these models back in March,the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in deliveries getting severely delayed. Now, the brand promises deliveries will commence on September 15.

Interestingly, when prices for the BS6 Vento and Polo had been revealed earlier this year, the prices for the automatic variants were different. The Polo GT TSI is Rs 8,000 dearer (it was priced at Rs 9.59 lakh) while Vento Highline Plus AT prices are Rs 30,000 lower. In addition, the automatic gearbox was said to be available in with the Polo Highline Plus and the Vento Highline variants as well, though that no longer seems to be the case.

Compared to its manual counterpart, the Vento Highline Plus AT costs about Rs 91,000 more; the Polo GT TSI doesn’t have an equivalent manual variant though the closest in terms of features is the Polo Highline Plus.

There are no other changes to either of the cars. Both utilise VW’s new 1.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that produces 110hp and 175Nm of torque, although the Polo is also available with a lesser, naturally aspirated 1.0 MPI engine which does not get an auto gearbox. When specced with the 6-speed automatic, the Polo TSI has an ARAI-rated 16.47kpl mileage while the Vento posts a 16.35kpl fuel-efficiency figure. Both these figures are lower than most of their rivals.

The features list and safety kit are also unchanged. For the list of all the features available with Polo 1.0 TSI variants, click here.

How do the Polo AT and Vento AT prices compare with rivals?

For the sake of lower costs and a competitive price tag, among other reasons, VW has opted to use a 6-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox instead of the dual-clutch DSG unit that was available with the BS4-compliant Vento and Polo. While this strategy seems to pay off for the Vento when compared to petrol-automatic versions of the Honda City (Rs 12.20-14.45 lakh*), Hyundai Verna (Rs 11.95-13.99 lakh) and Toyota Yaris (Rs 9.56-14.30 lakh*), the Polo automatic is significantly more expensive than like-sized rivals like the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios AMT (Rs 6.45-7.69 lakh*) and Maruti Suzuki Swift AMT (Rs 6.66-8.02 lakh*).

*Prices, ex-showroom, Delhi