Volkswagen has had to change its plans in India multiple times. The German automaker entered India back in 2007 and was very bullish about the automobile market here. However, the company has been through some ups and downs. After having invested heavily in the marketing of the Polo and Vento, VW failed to see sales rise which led to the company chalking out new plans. The automaker had clearly said it won’t bring the Up! to India as it would be too costly and the plan was to bring the Taigun compact SUV instead (in 2016) as this segment was seeing a huge spike in demand.
However, Volkswagen has now made it clear that the Taigun won’t be seen here even though the vehicle was showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo. This was said by Michael Mayer, Director of Volkswagen Passengers Cars India in an interview with ETAuto. He stated that other options are being considered and the Volkswagen Group has various platforms so they are not bound to one particular platform. The Wolfsburg company is looking at what will be right for the Indian market and a decision on the same is still pending. Volkswagen plans to leverage exports to boost profits from Indian operations and thus the compact SUV will be manufactured locally but sold overseas as well.
Mr. Mayer has also stated that it will always cost more to buy a Volkswagen and the automaker won’t chase volumes by compromising on safety. The current priority for Volkswagen is to launch a compact sedan and a compact SUV, the former arriving in the near future and won’t be a sub 4-metre Vento although it will be based on the same platform. Volkswagen is also considering the introduction of the Golf in India while the Jetta facelift, next generation Passat and new Beetle will arrive on our shores next year. Mid-size SUVs for India are also being considered and the Tiguan is a prime candidate for battle in the Rs. 20-30 lakh SUV segment.
Source – ETAuto.com
