Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German-based automobile company founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front, known for the iconic “Beetle” and has headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. The Front’s biggest market is in China, which delivers 40%of its sales and profit alone in China.
VW’s Nivus (Worldclass)
Volkswagen has finally taken the wraps off the Nivus, the brand’s smallest SUV-coupe that will first go on sale in South American markets, before being rolled out in Europe next year. The Nivus SUV Coupe is based on Volkswagen’s MQB A0 platform, also found in its T-Cross compact SUV.
The Nivus is 4,266mm long (about the same length as the 4.2m-long Taigun) and has a 2.56m wheelbase (about 90mm shorter than the Taigun) which makes it similar in size to the all-new Polo that’s sold abroad. At 445 liters, the Nivus has a much larger trunk compared to the 373 liters offered by the Taigun that will come to India.
Nivus comes with a 1.0-liter TSI petrol engine that churns out a healthy 128hp. This turbo-petrol engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic gearbox as standard. There are talks of a 1.5-liter TSI engine too, that will join the line-up later.
The South American spec-SUV will come with a long list of features like standard LED tail-lamps, rear parking sensors, cruise control, a multifunction steering wheel, powered wing mirrors and rain-sensing wipers, along with automatic headlamps. Higher variants come with a digital instrument panel, paddle-shifters, drive modes, and front parking sensors. The top-spec Nivus R-Line trim will add in 17-inch alloy wheels, a new Discover Multimedia system, glossy black paint finish, and full LED headlamps. The interior of the Volkswagen Nivus SUV looks modern with shiny surfaces.
The Nivus is the first Brazilian model with adaptive cruise control. Autonomous emergency braking is on offer as well. It also comes with six airbags and a driver drowsiness detection system that are said to be segment-firsts in the market.
The first market impact
Volkswagen has sold the first lot of 1,000 Nivus SUVs in Brazil in just a few hours after the launch of the car on June 25. In fact, 200 units of a special launch edition were sold in under seven minutes.
The announcement was made on Twitter by Jürgen Stackmann, a Board Member at Volkswagen Brand for Sales, Marketing and After Sales. He congratulated the Volkswagen Brazil sales unit and called it a dream team.
Volkswagen had first unveiled Nivus on May 28 at an event held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and broadcast via streaming. The Nivus will be initially sold only in the Brazilian market before heading to Argentina and South American markets next year. It is the first SUV of Volkswagen sports lines and the second of the group after the Audi Q3 Sportback.
The SUV Coupe is based on the company’s MQB A0 platform, also found in its T-Cross compact SUV. The Brazil version of Nivus gets a 1.0-liter three-cylinder TSI petrol engine which has been rated to deliver a maximum power output of 128 PS. It is hooked to a 6-speed Tiptronic automatic gearbox transmitting power to the front wheels.
On the front, Nivus wears a wide grille, elongated headlights and gets 17-inch wheels to give it a sporty and elegant touch. The SUV is longer than Volkswagen Polo and T-Cross measuring 4,266 mm in length, 1,757 mm in width, and 1,493 mm tall, with a 2,566 mm wheelbase.
It gets a modern cabin which is fully configurable to the user’s liking and comes with compatibility to Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, WiFi, and function mirroring. It gets features such as adaptive cruise control, automatic parking assistant, automatic emergency braking up to 50 kmph, electronic differential lock, or keyless entry and starts.
In the long term, given Volkswagen’s SUV push in India, the Nivus may be considered for the customers here as well. However, there is no confirmation yet.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.