Joerg Mueller in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Fotocorp)

Mumbai, July 16: German auto major Volkswagen Group today announced that it would roll out a small car in India by 2010.

At the launch of its Jetta model here today, Volkswagen Group’s India president and managing director Joerg Mueller said the company would roll out the small car from its new manufacturing facility at Chakan in Pune in 2010.

The car will be specially made for India, he said. It will be based on the same platform as Volkswagen’s best-selling model, the Polo.

The company will first launch the Polo hatchback version in India, which will be priced in the same segment as the Skoda Fabia, the Swift and the Honda Jazz.

Later, it will launch the Polo notchback sedan, competing with the Honda City.

According to officials, the company’s Chakan plant will be operational by 2009. The Fabia will also roll out from the same plant subsequently.

Priced in the range of Rs 5 to 6 lakh, the small car could borrow from Up! — a concept car that the company had unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2007.

However, a lot of local components will go into the making of the car, Mueller said.

The Jetta, which is being assembled at the company’s plant in Aurangabad, will be available in India in three variants and two engines — the Jetta 1.6L petrol engine with a 5-speed manual gearbox and the 1.9L TDI with a strong turbo-diesel engine and the option of 5-speed manual transmission or 6-speed DSG automatic transmission.

The Jetta 1.6L petrol trendline will be priced at Rs 12.97 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) while the 1.9L diesel trendline is priced at Rs 14.22 lakh.

The top of the line 1.9L diesel comfortline with DSG automatic transmission will cost Rs 16.67 lakh. The company has so far rolled out around 8 million units of this model globally, with the major sales coming from Europe.