VW, BMW to set India course by September!

[Revvmaster]

So the two giants who have been dilly-dallying seem to have gone on course and decided to take a decision. I hope. They plan to set-up their factories in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

BMW with its plant on the outskirts of Hyderabad and VW with its plant in Vishakhaptnam.

Read more of it here: Economic Times Article

Revv

[_Crazi4Speed_]

Thats cool man..I cant wait for them to launch their cars...Atleast that way you know the pricing is going to be more accurate..rather than you paying what navnit motors have to quote or for that matter any dealer...

It would be interesting to see what VW brings to India..what are they going to be doing..are they planning on any home made parts or just like how merc do their business...even for that you need 1000 crores??

[GTO]

A 1000 crore plant surely indicates a long term commitment, and VW has already tested Indian waters with the Skoda. They sure have been advertising of late between F1 races. Product line is a big suspense, but knowing the "people car" manufacturer...expect some class leading automobiles.

Considering that Mercedes has been around for a decade, BMW is pretty late in realising the potential of India. But the segment needs competition...offering a choice to the 30+ lakh car buyer. I just hope they dont launch that bare to the bones 318i thats priced alongside the fully loaded C200K. BMW would probably launch the 7 series first alongwith the X5...and then move downward.

GTO

[amit]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]the Volkswagen plant is expected to have a capacity of 2500 cars per year.

[img]http://www.team-bhp.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/***.gif[/img]
I hope that is a mis print! I hope VW brings in the new Golf. Man what a amazing car! If they are gonna manufacture here, then i can see it coming but otherwise..bad luck. Even then, i m sure they are gonna bring in the Passat here first and move down. Anywaz, hope to see the golf here soon!
BMW - it's high time they are here. In fact they should have been here long back! anywaz, better late than never.

[Revvmaster]

Hey amit, another way to look at it is this, 2500 cars for VW means only 2 cars are headed from the VW stable.

Phaeton and maybe Touareg.

My question is thoe, would anyone want to spend more than Rs. 30 lakh on a VW badge in India? The move is highly questionable. It would be strange to watch a master strategist like Bernd Pscheitsreider make a tactical and expensive error like this.

Also note, the Golf won't come cheap in India. I guess its starting price would be as high as Rs. 6 lakh making it completely unviable for production here. I assume if they do enter the volumes segment, they might look at getting the Polo. I doubt even the entry of Passat, since it means competition to Skoda.

Speculation is all we can live on as of right now. A month or two from now i hope this fog of doubt clears out.

Revv

[_Crazi4Speed_]

Dont you think govt should provide these companies with incentives..like I know the CBU duty is more like 65% in comparison to our 100% but since these companies are committing big money here, shouldnt they give them a break like say 25% odd..asking them to put 20-25% parts from India..I mean that would really give out automobile industry a big push...

[Sahil]

This is great news, good to see more international cars getting made nationaly for us * . BMW will face some serious competition from mercedes which has far more prestige value than a BMW for the indian consumer. BMW needs to target the young executives that have gotten quick rich and r ready to spend money at a jify, also alot of ''spoilt brats'' *sons of rich fathers would oupt for one of these machines. In my opinion BMW should restrict getting their whoole range and cut cost by making only certain models locally. Hence i see models like the 330i,530i and 745i should be made locally as these models would be somewhr in between the top end and the low range models. Infact the new X3 would be a better option than the 3 series for indian roads.BMW's new diesel powerplants i hear r superb and it would be a gr8 idea to get a few diesel options also after seeing the success of the E 270 Cdi
P.S - When do u think BMW would be ready to give out deliveries by?

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Also note, the Golf won't come cheap in India. I guess its starting price would be as high as Rs. 6 lakh making it completely unviable for production here. I assume if they do enter the volumes segment, they might look at getting the Polo. I doubt even the entry of Passat, since it means competition to Skoda.

Hey Revv,

The Golf and the Octavia are basically the same car under that body. Although the Golf is a bit smaller outside as it is the hatch, the interior dimenshions are identical. The Golf worldwide is one of the most expensive cars in its segment, and therefore there is no way that it could be priced less than the Octavia in India. Hence, the chances of the Golf coming to India are non existant.

They probably would bring out the more expensive cars, but, as you mentioned, I doubt there really is a market for a 30+ lakh VW. It didnt work abroad, and its surely not gonna work here.

Rt