Unfazed by the ongoing slump in automobile sales, luxury car maker Volkswagen plans to launch the original “people’s car,” Beetle, in India by October and the Polo hatchback by early next year.
Besides, it will continue with its plan to invest Rs 3,600 crore in its Pune plant in India. “We will launch the Beetle by the end of October. We have no plan to alter our decision to invest Rs 3,600 crore in India,” Volkswagen India-Project Head Ludwig Geerken said.
He added: “We will start making Polo at our Pune plant by January and launch it by March next year. Production will start a little earlier so that we can keep enough inventories with our dealers.” Without giving details of the price of Polo, Geerken said: “It will be competitively priced with other cars in that category.”
While Polo will be made locally, Beetle will be brought as Completely Built Units (CBUs).
The auto-maker, at present, has a manufacturing facility in Pune from where group company Skoda makes its premium hatchback, Fabia. Aiming at 10 per cent market share in India in the next five-six years, Volkswagen would strengthen its product portfolio in the country with the introduction of the notchback version of its small car, Polo, by the middle of next year.
The passenger car sales in the Indian market in 2007-08 fiscal stood at 12,03,531 units.
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Explaining the reason for not deferring its plans despite the sluggish sales, he said: “Some of the investment has already gone in for making Polo.”
Meanwhile, Skoda said it was planning to introduce its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), Yeti, in India, besides looking at launching an advanced version of its sedan, Laura, when the car would be relaunched in India by June this year.
“We are currently conducting tests on Yeti to see its suitability for India. We want to bring the car to India. However, the car will be launched in India only after it is introduced in Europe,” Skoda Auto India Pvt Ltd Managing Director Karsten Bogun said at the Geneva Motor Show.
Skoda unveiled the SUV at the show. The vehicle will be launched in the European market in the next few months with a 1.2 litre petrol engine and a 2.0 litre diesel engine. For the Indian market, Yeti’s engine capacity would be tweaked and it could come with a 1.8 litre petrol engine, he said.
The company may also power Laura with a new 2.0 litre diesel engine. “We are thinking of a 2.0 litre diesel engine for the Laura in India. The final decision will be taken when the new Laura is launched in May-June,” Bogun said. Laura was launched in India in 2005 with a 1.9 litre diesel engine. The firm sells Octavia and Superb, besides the Laura, in the sedan segment in India. It also sells the premium hatchback Fabia.