European carmaker Volkswagen is bullish on the premium hatchback segment in India for its new compact car Polo.
The company believes that the premium hatchback segment would grow by almost 55 per cent against the industry average of 18 per cent.
“Of the roughly one million annum market for the hatchback segment, the premium category accounts for 22.5 per cent. Going by the capacity of the Indian manufacturers to cater to the premium hatchback segment demand, we are confident of the success of Polo,” Volkswagen Passenger Car director Neeraj Garg told Business Standard.
In 2009, Volkswagen had sold 3,039 vehicles in the country, up from 1,564 during 2008.
“Now that we have launched a total of 6 models in India, including our hatchback Polo, we are confident of being a major auto player here in the months to come,” Garg, who was here to launch a new dealership in Lucknow, added.
In the last one year, the company has ramped up its dealership network from 14 to 43 across 32 cities. More dealerships would be opened depending upon the market response.
The Volkswagen portfolio in India includes Passat, Jetta, Beetle, Touareg and Polo.
“We have invested heavily here and our investment stands at Rs 3,800 crore,” he informed. It has a plant in Maharashtra, where the Polo is manufactured with 50 per cent localisation. “We will increase the percentage of localisation as we get quality suppliers, since we will not compromise on quality for the purpose on localisation alone,” Garg added.
The base petrol and diesel variants of Polo (ex-showroom) in Lucknow come with price tags of Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 5.52 lakh respectively. The respective prices for top end models are Rs 5.93 lakh and Rs 6.95 lakh.
