VW is said to be developing an all-new Polo hatchback and sedan for India, for which the styling may be based on this VW Scirocco

Volkswagen, which had earlier announced that it would start rolling out cars from its new manufacturing facility at Chakan (near Pune) by the first quarter of 2010, has had a change of heart. Seeing other German and Japanese companies getting too much of a headstart, VW now plans to launch its Chakan-made cars by April 2009, almost one full year ahead of schedule.

VW, which is already assembling some of its cars (Passat, Jetta…) at group company Skoda’s plant in Aurangabad, sold 16,695 cars in India in the January-October period this year...

100km on 1 litre of petrol? Yes, that’s what the VW 1L will do!

Relentlessly rising fuel prices may give rise to a different kind of supercar – one whose performance is measured in km/l rather than bhp and km/h. Yes, right now, it’s cool to be green. Inexpensive and fuel efficient are the new-age supercar buzzwords, and Volkswagen is right there with its 1L, a car that will do 100km on one litre of petrol!

While it was first revealed as a prototype back in 2002, it’s only now that VW seem to have gotten serious about their mileage supercar – the company is now saying the 1L will actually hit the market by 2010. A lightweight (290kg) car that can carry two people, the 1L can travel about 650km on one tank of fuel and is capable of hitting a top speed of 120km/h.

The VW 1L is power...