Volkswagen Nivus, Venturing Into The European Market
Corresponding to Volkswagen’s 40th anniversary, the company has premiered its Latin America production of the VW Nivus that will make its way for the European market later this year.
Following successful market launches in Brazil and Argentina, the VW Nivus alongside the Taos, aforementioned in our VW Taos story, will also be the first vehicle developed in Latin America to make its way to Europe.
The 2021 Volkswagen Nivus’s production will be specifically modified for the European market and the company will also move its production to Europe.
Designing wise of the VW Nivus mixes SUV elements and sports coupe essence together. One of the many highlights is the fast and flowing slope of the C-pillar. In turn, giving the Nivus a special coupe-like profile.
Volkswagen’s head of design department for Latin America Jose Carlos Pavone said, “Its proportions define an athletic and modern character.”
Front-end of the Nivus portrays the typical Volkswagen design. The headlights are joined by a very dominant grille. It has distinctive lines on the hood, which define the vehicle’s rugged character.
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As for the distinctive equipment fitted, the Nivus is installed with LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED fog lights and a roof-edge spoiler which provides a stretching-like effect.
Claimed by Volkswagen, the Nivus is built on the Modular Transverse Toolkit. It allows the Nivus to offer an interior which is comfortable even for a big group of five.
It has a lavishly spacious trunk with 415-litres of load capacity. Furthermore, it can be operated by using the virtual ‘VW Play’ new infotainment system.
Infotainment wise, the system was developed in Brazil and has a user-friendly interface. It comes with an extremely high-resolution 10-inch screen which is touch-sensitive, scratch-resistant and virtual buttons.

Other than that, the 10-inch screen and the digital 10.25-inch Active Info Display on the driver’s side resembles a large digital island in the Nivus’ dashboard. Practical yet safe, the digital cockpit can be operated via the steering wheel.
A special feature are the flexible-fuel engines. It allows the Nivus to run with either gasoline, ethanol or the mixture of both fuels in any proportion.
Performance of the Nivus sports a flex-fuel 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder 200 TSI engine. It can produce an output of 128 PS (94 kW) of maximum power and 200 Nm of maximum torque. The mill is paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission and this ensures the Nivus a relatively low fuel consumption.
Overall, the VW Nivus is powerful and elegant. The company’s designer Pavone claims to have developed this new model about four years ago and now it is defining a whole new market segment for Volkswagen.
Gallery
Written By
Afiq Saha
Part of the CariCarz multi-faceted editorial team, Afiq is an English author packing four years of professional writing experience, be it creative or factual. (LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/Afiq-Saha-AS27)
JPJ Running Numbers
KUALA LUMPUR
VQG9267
SELANGOR
BSL5124
JOHOR
JYP4165
PULAU PINANG
PRX4287
PERAK
APD9436
PAHANG
CFE6993
KEDAH
KGD7248
NEGERI SEMBILAN
NEJ2273
KOTA KINABALU
SJP6579
KUCHING
QAB9793M
Last updated 08 Jan, 2026
Fuel Price
Petrol
RON 95
RM 2.54
-0.02
RON 97
RM 3.11
-0.05
RON 100
RM 5.00
VPR
RM 6.23
Diesel
EURO 5 B10
RM 2.89
-0.05
EURO 5 B7
RM 3.09
-0.05
Last updated 08 Jan, 2026
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