German carmaker Volkswagen plans to drive in its iconic car ‘Beetle‘ in India as it looks to strengthen presence in the country. (Also Read Jet VW Beetle)
“Beetle is an iconic brand and the profile of the customer the world over for this car is upwardly mobile and well travelled and those who wants to be different. We see a segment of those customers in India,” Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Managing Director Makham Dhalivaal said.
He said Beetle could be used as a part of the brand building exercise that Voklswagen plans to undertake in India.
Asked by when the Beetle could be launched in India, Dhalivaal declined to give a definite timeframe but said: “It could be in the medium term.”
Beetle is now manufactured in Mexico for VW’s worldwide supplies and could come to India through the completely built unit import route.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response to the newly launched sedan Jetta, Dhalivaal said the company expects order of about 1,200 units by the end of this year.
“Also we are confident of selling about 500-600 Passat (the upper end sedan) this year,” he added.
On the response to the Jetta, he said the company has received 3,932 contacts asking about the car from different cities in India.
He said the firm is bullish about the Indian market and is looking at bringing in a number of other products, like Passat CC and its SUV range.
“Also, next year we are bringing in our sedan Phaeton,” he said.
VW plans to launch its compact car based on the Polo platform in two variants – hatchback and sedan – once it starts production at its Chakan plant in Maharashtra.
The company is also embarking on a major dealership expansion with plans for having 70 dealers in India by next year, up from the existing seven.
“We are planning to have 15 dealers this year and 70 by next year and eventually it will go up to 120 in few years,” he said, adding in this way the company would be covering all the major Tier I, II and III cities across the country.
