2016 Volkswagen Ameo petrol review, test drive

What is it?

Tata’s idea to chop the boot off its Indigo sedan and create the Indigo CS may have caught a few scoffs when it happened, mostly because of the car’s awkward proportions, but the Indian company clearly had the last laugh, because just look at the compact sedan segment now. Just about everyone has a player in this game – Maruti, Hyundai, Honda, Ford and even Tata, once again, with the Zest. Volkswagen isn’t a company we expected to hop onto this bandwagon, to be perfectly honest. That’s because for a global company like VW to make a car for just one market (the compact sedan segment is unique to India) isn’t always a priority. However, in a show of commitment to our market, VW has taken the plunge and stepped out of its comfort zone and plunged headlong into the value-driven compact sedan segment with the  VW Ameo.

It’s VW’s first product developed exclusively for the Indian market and it all came together in just two years. It’s based on the Polo hatchback (rather than the Vento sedan) because the shorter wheelbase and overall length was a better starting point for a ‘sub-four-metre limousine’ as VW calls it. From the nose right up to the rear doors, the car looks exactly the same and VW has also managed to retain the Polo’s rear quarter glass for a better sense of space. The only difference is that the roof is a little lower to give a better flow to the sedan shape. The tricky part was carefully judging the rake of the C-pillar. Making it too upright would result in a boxy silhouette whilst too much of an angle would make it look sleeker but end up making the boot too stubby. In fact, Tilo Klumpp, chief designer of the Ameo said that his first designs were that of a fastback until VW India’s product planners suggested he give more of a distinction to the all-important (for status) ‘third box.’

Designing the boot wasn’t easy either and designers had to find a balance between space and style. Shaving 35mm off the front bumper liberated that much more length at the rear for the designers to play with but, the end result isn’t quite appealing. The boot looks too truncated or chopped off and though VW has done well to give the boot multiple surfaces to break up the vertical mass and a spoiler to make it look longer, it all ends a bit abruptly. There is only so much that can be done when you use a Polo and turn it into something it was never orignally designed to be.