2 Popular Cars Get Discontinued! » MotorOctane

The term “driver’s cars” has become lost in today’s market. Nowadays, people are more concerned with a car’s feature list than its driving pleasure. As a result, these 2 cars, once known as one of the most fun-to-drive cars money can buy, have been discontinued.
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Which Cars Are We Talking About?

Volkswagen built its brand in India thanks to the Polo and Vento. These cars were drivers’ delights and boosted Volkswagen’s reputation as a driver-centric car. They maintained this rep with the Taigun and Virtus.

But now, Volkswagen have discontinued the manual variants of the Taigun GT Plus and Virtus GT Plus. While the Taigun has always had the manual option on the top variant, the Virtus was sold solely with the DCT gearbox. But to cater to petrolheads, Volkswagen released the Virtus with a manual transmission for the GT Plus variants. So why has Volkswagen discontinued these cars now?

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Powertrain

While there are 2 engine options on offer – the 1.0-litre TSI and 1.5-litre TSI, we are talking about the bigger engine option from the GT Plus variant. This engine, thanks to its 150 bhp and 250 Nm of torque, was a blast. It became an instant hit, especially on the Virtus. Combined with the driving dynamics of a sedan and this engine, it was considered the best driver’s car in the market. The only thing it was missing was a manual gearbox. Volkswagen listened to its customer base and began offering a 6-speed manual from 2023.

But the sales have dried up ever since. The initial demand for the 1.5-litre manual Virtus and Taigun is no more. And the German manufacturer found it feasible to discontinue the manual for the 1.5-litre variants. While you still get a manual alternative on both these cars, it is only available on the 1.0-litre TSI engine, which is dreary in comparison to the 1.5-litre. Skoda made a similiar move with its 1.5-litre manual options of the Kushaq and Slavia last year.

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What Was Special About It?

The GT Plus manual powertrain was a cheaper way to get your hands on the powerful 1.5-litre TSI. The Virtus 1.5 TSI Manual started at Rs 20.84 Lakhs (on-road, Mumbai), while the DCT counterpart starts at Rs 22.25 Lakh (on-road, Mumbai). On the other hand, the Taigun 1.5 TSI manual was priced at Rs 20.19 Lakh. The Taigun 1.5 DCT costs Rs 22.42 Lakhs (on-road, Mumbai). This is a significant price gap between the two and bad news for most car enthusiasts.

While the DCT is still a joy to drive, you miss out on the feel of shifting gears manually. At first glance, this move doesn’t seem so bad, but when you look at its rivals, it does. The Taigun rivals the Creta, Seltos, and the Sierra. The only USP that the Taigun had over the others was the driveability. But now its rivals offer more powerful engine options, manual alternatives, along with much longer feature lists for a similar price. With the driving pleasure no longer in the picture, the Taigun makes very little sense to the general public.

The same case applies to the Virtus. While the sedan market isn’t as competitive as the SUV one, it still has one big competitor – the Verna. The Verna offers an exciting turbo-petrol engine with manual and DCT options, and the Virtus seems like a worse deal.

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