In this post, I list out the 5 not-so-popular VW cars in India. There are always some models of vehicles which are not as successful as the others. That is a rather common occurrence in the automobile world across the globe. VW is among the biggest carmakers on the planet. In fact, it has held one of the top two spots along with Toyota as the biggest car manufacturer in the world multiple times. Therefore, just because some of its products didn’t work in India doesn’t mean that there are any issues with the brand. For now, let us focus on the less popular vehicles from the German car marque in our market over the years.
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5 VW Cars No One Wanted
| Less Popular Cars from VW |
| VW Phaeton |
| VW Touareg |
| VW Beetle |
| VW Ameo |
| VW Passat |
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VW Phaeton
The first vehicle on this list of the top 5 VW cars no one wanted is the Phaeton. It was the brainchild of Ferdinand Piëch, the Chairman at VW from 1993 to 2002. Phaeton was based on the same platform as the Audi A8. As a result, it had a steep asking price of a whopping Rs 76 lakh in India. It was on sale from 2010 to 2013 as a full import. That explains the astronomical price. It rivalled the likes of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 and Bentley GT-Coupe. Under its hood sat two engines – a 3.0-litre V6 TDI diesel making 240 hp and a 6.0-litre W12 engine developing 450 hp of peak power. There were options of manual and automatic transmissions. The petrol model displayed insane acceleration with a 0 to 100 km/h time of 6.1 secs. However, its high price didn’t sit well with the buyers.
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VW Touareg
Then there was the luxurious VW Touareg. It was the first SUV by the German car marque in India. It had a price tag of a whopping Rs 51.85 lakh, ex-showroom back in 2009. The high price was due to the import duties on the CBU cars. That’s why it went out of production in 2013. It used to come powered by either a 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 mill which produced 240 hp or a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine which generated 280 hp of peak power. These powertrains allowed 0 to 100 km/h acceleration times of 8.6 seconds and 8.3 seconds, respectively. The rivals included Audi Q7, Volvo XC90, BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne.
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VW Beetle
VW Beetle was among the most iconic vehicles ever produced. It remained in production for an unbelievable 80 years globally. In India, it was sold between 2009 and 2017. It is the car which gave recognition to Volkswagen back in 1938. With such a glorious legacy, the German carmaker introduced it in our market with high hopes. However, the high price tag for a relatively smaller car resulted in the Beetle not performing well on the sales charts. It was powered by a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine good for 114 hp and 172 Nm of peak power and torque. There was a 6-speed automatic transmission with this engine.
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VW Ameo
The VW Ameo is the next vehicle on this list of top cars no one bought from the German carmaker. It was in production in India from 2016 to 2020. Essentially, it was the sedan version of the Polo in India. It shared the powertrain and transmission options with it. However, the competition in the segment from the likes of Maruti Dzire and Hyundai Xcent proved too fierce for the German product. Hence, it never attained the kind of success that was expected of it. There were three engines on offer – a 1.0-litre petrol, a 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel. The petrol mills came with a sole manual, while the diesel variants offered manual and automatic transmission.
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VW Passat
Finally, there is the VW Passat on this list. It was in production in India between 2007 and 2020. This is quite a long time. The one launched in India was the 6th generation model. There was a sole 1.8-litre TSI turbo petrol engine on offer which generated a colossal 160 PS and 250 Nm of peak power and torque. This engine was paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. The aim was to offer the customers something more luxurious than the average C-segment sedans without taking the prices too high. It retailed for around Rs 19.20 lakh, ex-showroom. But it never resonated well with the buyers.
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Author’s Note
I’d like to clarify that it’s not uncommon for car manufacturers to have certain products that don’t perform well on the sales charts – it’s a natural aspect of the business. This doesn’t necessarily indicate any inherent issues with the vehicles themselves. Reasons for underperformance could be as straightforward as high competition in the segment or other models from the same car brand gaining more popularity. At times, some of these products might have even been ahead of their time. Nevertheless, car manufacturers gain valuable insights from their setbacks, incorporating lessons learned into their subsequent products to ensure success. That is what VW did too and today, it is much more successful in our market in comparison to a few years ago.
