Volkswagen Ameo
Volkswagen AmeoPR handout

German carmaker Volkswagen commenced the production of its first made-for-India compact sedan, the Ameo, at its Pune manufacturing unit on Wednesday, May 25. The first Ameo to roll off the production line is draped in silk blue paint and has a 1.2-litre MPI motor. The first compact sedan for India from Volkswagen has been developed with an investment of Rs. 720 crore. The market launch of the car is expected in mid-June.

Volkswagen India commenced bookings for the Ameo from May 12 for a token amount Rs. 10,000. As part of the pre-launch publicity exercise, the company is currently organising a multi-city road show of the Ameo.

Unveiled at the Auto Expo 2016 in February, the Ameo will be sold with petrol and diesel mills. The 1.2-litre three-cylinder MPI petrol engine will churn out 74bhp of power and 110Nm of peak torque, while the 1.5-litre four-cylinder TDI diesel engine will develop 89bhp of power and 230Nm of torque. The diesel engine will come mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and seven-speed DSG transmission, while the petrol engine will be mated to five-speed manual transmission.

The Ameo will be sold in three variants — Trendline, Comfortline and Highline. All the variants of the Ameo will be fitted with dual front airbags and ABS as standard. It will be available in five colours — blue silk, reflex silver, toffee brown, candy white and carbon steel.

When launched, the Ameo will take on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Swift, Tata Zest, Ford Figo Aspire and Honda Amaze. The VW car is expected to come in the range of Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 8 lakh.

The German automaker is eyeing a 15 percent rise in production in India in 2016 over the 1.23 lakh units produced in 2015, reported India Today. The Ameo will be the key product offering to attain this target. Anticipating a higher demand for the Ameo, Volkswagen India had also commenced a third shift at its Pune facility in March.