Gasgoo.com (Shanghai August 20) - Shanghai VW held a ceremony in Qingdao, Shandong over the weekend marking the official market debut of the New Lavida compact, Gasgoo.com (Chinese) reported today. Five Olympic medalists, including Zhang Jike and Zhou Shiming, were in attendance. The five athletes were each presented with a New Lavida, becoming the first official owners of the new compact.
The New Lavida (pictured above) has some large shoes to fill, with its predecessor having managed to bring in over 800,000 orders since its launch in 2008. According to Shanghai VW Sales and Marketing Executive Director Jia Mingdi, there are over 40,000 potential buyers who are interested in the new compact.
The New Lavida comes with a 1.6 L engine option and a 1.4 L turbocharged one. The compact is available in seven different colors. Interior color choices include black and beige. Three different trim levels are available. Starting prices range from 112,900 yuan ($17,826) for the basic 1.6 L, manual transmission driven variant to 166,900 yuan ($26,353) for a 1.4 L turbocharged, direct-shift gearbox equipped one.
Shanghai VW sold a total of 72,902 vehicles in July, equivalent to year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent. In addition to the Lavida, the New Passat, New Polo and updated Tiguan all made significant contributions to the JV's sales last month.
