Volkswagen Virtus debuts in India

Volkswagen has launched the Virtus in India, with a starting price of ₹ 11.21 lakh for the 1.0 TSI Comfortline variant, going up to ₹ 17.91 lakh for the top-spec 1.5 TSI GT variant. Bookings for the Virtus are already underway. The Virtus is the sister model to the Skoda Slavia, and the fourth model from VW Group’s India 2.0 project’s made-for-India cars.

The Virtus gets two powertrain options, a 115hp, 178Nm, 1.0-litre TSI three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that is paired to either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed torque converter automatic and a more powerful 150hp, 250Nm, 1.5-litre TSI four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that is paired to a 7-speed DCT transmission and gets cylinder deactivation technology to save fuel.

The Virtus shares the same 1,752 mm in width, 1507mm in height, and 2,651mm of wheelbase as the Slavia but is 20mm longer. These dimensions make the Virtus, the biggest premium midsize sedan in its class.  

The sedan’s Dynamic Line consists of all the 1.0-litre variants whereas the GT-badged Performance Line includes the 1.5-litre variants. The Dynamic line features beige and black interiors, while the Performance line gets red stitching on the seats as well as red detailing on the dashboard and aluminium pedals.

Top-spec versions get a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, an 8.0-inch instrument cluster, wireless phone charging, as well as connected car tech, ventilated seats, a sunroof, cooled glovebox and auto headlamps and wipers. Its safety features include six airbags, hill-hold control, ESC and a tyre pressure monitor. In terms of practicality, the Virtus packs a 521-litre boot and a 60:40 split rear seat to open up more space.

Volkswagen offers different service packages for the Virtus which cover service costs for the duration of four years and is priced at ₹ 20,388 for the 1.0-litre variants and ₹ 22,881 for the 1.5-litre variant. The Virtus will have an average service cost of ₹ 5,000 a year along with a standard 4 year/1,00,000km warranty which can be extended up to 7 years and 1,50,000km for ₹ 11,525.