Exclusive: Volkswagen Polo To Be Sold As A Petrol Only Offering With 1.0-litre BS6 Engines

• The 1.0-litre TSI engine is expected to be offered in 110PS tune with 200Nm of torque.
• It is likely to come mated with the 7-speed DSG and a 6-speed manual gearbox.
• The 1.5-litre diesel will be discontinued, leaving the Polo without a diesel mill.
• Expect the above-mentioned changes to take place before April 2020.

Volkswagen has revealed that the Polo GT TSI in India will gain a downsized 1.0-litre TSI engine in place of the existing 1.2-litre TSI unit. Before you jump the gun, we would like to inform the new engine will most likely be offered in the 115PS tune, making it more powerful than the unit it replaces. That’s good news, but the sad news is the fate of the 1.5-litre diesel engine in the standard Polo and the GT TDI variant. The 1.5-litre TDI unit is one of the BS4 diesels that will not live on beyond March 2020. 

The existing 1.2-litre TSI is a gem of an engine producing 105PS and 175Nm of twist, mated to a 7-speed DSG gearbox.  Its successor, the BS6-compliant 1.0-litre 3-cylinder engine is expected to develop 115PS and 200Nm, promising a 10PS and 25Nm bump in power and torque. The quick-shifting 7-speed DSG gearbox will most probably be retained while a 6-speed manual is also on the cards. 

The new 1.0-litre TSI engine will be exclusive to the GT TSI variant. The standard Polo will make do with the existing 1.0-litre MPI unit, albeit with BS6 updates. The 1.0-litre TSI is the same unit from UP GTi  which was awarded the ‘Engine of the Year’ in 2018. Globally, the 1.2-litre TSI was replaced by this award-winning unit long ago. 

This brings us to the 1.5-litre TDI diesel which will soon get the boot. Yes, Volkswagen India will not be updating the 1.5-litre diesel engine that is currently available in two states of tune -- 90PS and 110PS. What this also means is the demise of Polo diesel in India once BS6 norms kick in by April 2020. The Polo will solely be offered with the 1.0-litre TSI and MPI engines until the carmaker decides to bring in a new BS6-compliant diesel engine. In other news,  the 1.2-litre TSI, 1.5-litre TDI and 1.6-litre MPI in the Vento will also face the axe. 

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Expect the 1.0-litre TSI engine to debut by the first-quarter of 2020, ahead of the BS6 switchover deadline in April 2020. Pricing and other details will be revealed in the near future, but we expect it to be more or less the same. Meanwhile, we still don’t know when to expect the sixth-gen Polo in India which went on sale abroad in 2017!