VW to come up with small car now.

[rahul_intlad]

Vw to come to india shortly and they are bringing a small car initially

from:
economictimes.com



Talking on the sidelines of SIAM’s Indo German Symposium, Mr Wolfgang Steiger, group research director-powertrain, Volkswagen, said, ”Volkswagen will announce its India plans pretty soon...within weeks.” He, however, did not clarify whether the company has already acquired the land for the greenfield plant.

“We are looking at making a small car initially,” he added. Volkswagen’s Indian plant has been the subject of a great deal of speculation. Among the prospective locations were Andhra Pradesh in general and Vizag in particular, Haryana (the Gurgaon-Manesar auto hub) and later Maharashtra.

[rahul_intlad]

I think they will definetly come up with a diesel version for the small car.Indica may get a new competetor

[lurker]

He also made an oblique reference to 'detuning'....because Indian road conditions are 'far' different from Oiropean road conditions.

So get ready for the 'detuned' small car from Volkswagen. Should be fun.

[bigman]

Originally Posted by lurker

He also made an oblique reference to 'detuning'....because Indian road conditions are 'far' different from Oiropean road conditions.

So get ready for the 'detuned' small car from Volkswagen. Should be fun.

Most manufacturers tune (or detune) cars for different markets. It is the done thing. Anyway it will not be too hard to get the ECU remapped etc if that is what you want.

[goldsun]

Good that we will soon get another choice to choose from. At the same time, too many choices will confuse the decision maker.

I prefer that the Small car from VW should be a performer.

[maxbhp]

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

I think they will definetly come up with a diesel version for the small car.Indica may get a new competetor

If they launch Golf its going to be another Sail story , I hope they localise to max and then start production unlike Astra which went the other way and earned a notorious maintencene image .

[lurker]

So Maharashtra it is ....

Volkswagen drives into Maharashtra

2006-09-12 08:44 Source : Moneycontrol.com
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Volkswagen has finalised an agreement with the Maharashtra Government to locate its Indian greenfield car manufacturing plant at Chakan in the outskirts of Pune.

Government sources told Business Line on condition of anonymity that the company has been given in-principle approval for 400 acres, adding that it is expected to ink an agreement and announce its plans in a few weeks.

The sources also said that a team of directors from the company has been in several rounds of talks with the State Government for a month now and finally thrashed out an agreement over the weekend.

Under the terms of the agreement, the State Government will hand over the land by November.

"The company wants to action its India plans as quickly as it can and what swung the deal in Maharashtra's favour is the fact that we were able to locate the right land for them and allot it within a month," the sources said. "The company is planning to start production by November 2007."

The company will invest an estimated Rs 2,500 crore in the facility and will initially manufacture small cars for the market, eventually broadening its portfolio to include models for other segments.

The Chakan industrial estate is already home to Bajaj Auto, which has located a motorcycle plant and recently acquired 250 acres for a greenfield plant to manufacture three- and four-wheelers.

The deal comes just over a month after General Motors announced that it would be setting up its Rs 1,300-crore second plant in India at the Talegaon industrial estate.

With Tata Motors and Fiat now inking a joint venture to make cars at the latter's facility at Ranjangaon near Pune, the region is developing into the auto industry's golden triangle.

The German company is believed to have been in talks with the Tamil Nadu and Punjab Governments for locating its facility.

Taken from Business Line

thehindubusinessline.in

[lurker]

Meanwhile some older news from Der Spiegel giving some insights into what is circulating in the heads of VW honchos as far as India is concerned....

Volkswagen Mulls Major Indian Factory

Car sales in India are booming. But with high tariffs on imports, the market has been hard for European companies to penetrate. Now Germany's Volkswagen wants to build a factory to serve the domestic market.


AP
Already successful with cheap, stripped down models of its cars in Brazil, Volkswagen wants to open up a factory in India -- the world's second largest growth market for car buyers.
Volkswagen is planning to invest €400 million to build a new factory in India. The final decision is likely to come at the next meeting of VW's board in September. But it's a move that is expected to generate massive controversy -- not least of all because Volkswagen's European factories are currently operating at under capacity. The company is even considering closing plants in Spain and Belgium -- a move that would result in mass layoffs.

Nevertheless, VW's top executives are convinced that the automaker needs to open up shop in India -- the world's second most important growth market after China. European automobile companies have had little success with exports to India because of the country's exorbitant import tariffs. The planned plant would be used to create cars specifically for the domestic market. Among the ideas being discussed are plans to create a no-frills, stripped down version of the VW Polo or the VW Golf, which is manufactured in Brazil. To make the car affordable for Indians with modest wages, the company plans to build models without features that would be standard in Western markets -- like power steering and side air bags.

dsl/spiegel

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/inte...434488,00.html

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by rahul_intlad

Vw to come to india shortly and they are bringing a small car initially

from:
economictimes.com



Talking on the sidelines of SIAM’s Indo German Symposium, Mr Wolfgang Steiger, group research director-powertrain, Volkswagen, said, ”Volkswagen will announce its India plans pretty soon...within weeks.” He, however, did not clarify whether the company has already acquired the land for the greenfield plant.

“We are looking at making a small car initially,” he added. Volkswagen’s Indian plant has been the subject of a great deal of speculation. Among the prospective locations were Andhra Pradesh in general and Vizag in particular, Haryana (the Gurgaon-Manesar auto hub) and later Maharashtra.

As a great President once said, "It depends on what your definition of "is" is" ! Likewise VW's definition of a "small" car.

[jessie007]

I was just going through the VW’s U.K. website http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/polo and came across three cars which are potential contenders for VW’s India foray. The three cars being the Fox, Polo and Golf. The Fox is a compact car but I believe it comes as a two door option only and no diesel engine option. The Golf on the other hand is a very well-built vehicle with lot of engine options, but with the Golf, VW will tend to out-price itself in the small car market, where only volumes translate into a good balance sheet.

So the last option is the Polo, which has a good choice of petrol and diesel engines. The Polo comes as a sedan as well on VW’s Brazil and China websites.
http://www.vw.com.br/default.asp?tur...fault%2Easp%3F

http://www.csvw.com/csvw/index.htm

The 1.2 petrol (55 / 64 PS) and 1.4 TDI (70 PS) are good potential options for the hatch. Both are fuel-efficient engines but we don’t really know as to in what state of tuning will they come to India (i.e. if they come). Still a good level of localisation is required to price the car say around Rs. 5 lakhs. Price less than that will not be possible without compromising on the quality of the product and a price above this will start to enter the mid-size sedan territory and we all know that in India a three-box car is perceived as a more affluent vehicle than a hatchback.

As we know that VW, as the name suggest, is (or tries to be) a brand for all folks and hope it maiden production foray in India keeps this reputation.

[prasadee]

the company plans to build models without features that would be standard in Western markets -- like power steering and side air bags.

No power steering?? What are they thinking?

[ajmat]

Well if they get bits in from China and brazil, it could be priced reasonably

[NRKUMAR]

VW really has a fight on its hand in terms of selecting the right models, technology (diesel is their strength) and most importantly pricing & service.
They have to beat Maruti's benchmark in affordable reliability if their small car has to be a mass seller.
But if they position themselves in super-mini, C & D categories, they can address the aspirational needs of the market better & be a relevant player in Indian auto scene. It will be tough proposition, as they will need to factor Skoda's Indian presence too, which is part of their family

[kvish]

Volkswagen fox is a real nice car...and so is Gol (not Golf)....Golf is a different story altogether...
I think they will either bring in the Gol or the fox...

[Mpower]

FIrst VW has to figure out its market positioning. Is it going to be above or below Skoda.

If they bring in the Gol, then they will be put in the same bracket as Indica and Logan.