Volkswagen to roll out 1st product under 'India 2.0' by 2020

German auto-maker Volkswagen will introduce by 2020 its first product under the India 2.0 initiative with high local content, a top company official said today.The company, recently announced its India 2.0 project along with Skoda Auto through which it plans to invest around Rs 8,000 crore as part of its strategy to strengthen Indian operations.The investments include, setting up of an engineering design development centre and also expanding the capacity at Chakan plant near Pune, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Director, Steffen Knapp said here."Under the India 2.0 project we will be investing around Rs 8,000 crore. The first product will be launched by 2020 with high local content," he told reporters.Responding to a query, he said, the current local content of the vehicles sold were about 82 per cent and the proposed plan was to launch products in the MQB (Modularer Querbaukasten or modular transversal toolkit) platform with localisation levels of"above 90 per cent."Volkswagen would also increase the plant capacity at Chakan unit (near Pune) from the current 1.80 lakh units to two lakh under the India 2.0 initiative, he said.The Indian subsidiary, was currently holding 1.3 per cent market share, he said adding the plan was to reach three per cent.For the Volkswagen Group, the target market share was to reach five per cent by 2025 from the present 1.86 per cent, he said.Volkswagen India currently has about 121 retail outlets across the country and would also look at expanding the dealer network in tier II and III cities, he said. PTI

from The Economic Times https://ift.tt/2zUbHDP