Volkswagen India will be launching the Polo in early 2010. The company’s first hatchback in India, the Polo will come with both petrol and diesel engine options. Its sedan version will be launched in mid-2010. The VW Polo will be a part of the rapidly growing premium hatchback segment in India, which includes Maruti’s Swift and Ritz and Hyundai’s i10 and i20. The company expects its sales in the country to improve remarkably after the launch of the Polo, and to cross the 1 lakh mark by 2014. Neeraj Garg, VW India’s Director (Passenger Car Division) said that the car would be built on a platform especially developed for Indian road conditions, and would be benchmarked against the Maruti Swift. Garg also said that Volkswagen’s initial strategy for the compact car segment would be to launch variants of the Polo. The car will be produced at VW’s Chakan plant in Pune.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen appointed Armin Keller as its new Sales Head for India and the Far East. Keller succeeds Adrian Michael Hallmark.