Volkswagen to Set New Base in India
India is the place where Volkswagen is considering setting up their new base. They will be making cars there that are exclusive for world market. The Volkswagen production plant to be set up will cost millions of Euros and will be located in Pune. This Is for the purpose of manufacturing the B/B Plus segment cars. These cars are vehicles specially designed for India. The aforementioned car is expected to be unveiled to the public come 2009. The car will be based on the Polo model (the new generation). However, it will not be named the same. According to Mr. Andreas Prinz, the Managing Director for Volkswagen passenger cars in India, the car manufactured in India will have a “higher wheel base with better ground clearance.” Its engine will not exceed 1.3 lt. Not only that, but the car will also have a larger space for its passengers. This is for the reason that in India, small cars are the ones used for the most part and so they have to be constructed in a different way.
After Volkswagen starts to produce cars for the Indian market, their plans include the manufacturing of models. Those models will be exported to other countries. One of the car models which will be made available to the Indian market is the Jetta. The New Beetle and Phaeton are anticipated to be released after three months. The Touareg (the sports utility vehicle), on the other hand, is expected to be releases some time in the next year. Volkswagen is expecting to sell roughly around 400,000 car units for the next ten years. This estimate is expected in the Indian market. The eighty percent of the sales will be coming from the selling of small cars.
Source: Auto India