[aseem]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

^

I really hope that 4m contraption doesn't get made here. Can't see such a proportionate car being ruined like this.

High time the 4m rule goes away. The slab for excise should be kept on weight, FE or pollution.

Couldnt agree more. Or at least increase it to 4.4 meters.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

^

I really hope that 4m contraption doesn't get made here.

Originally Posted by aseem

Couldnt agree more. Or at least increase it to 4.4 meters.

The VW sub 4m sedan will not be a 'chopped off ' Vento, it will be a car of its own. It would be a compact sedan for India and would adopt a proportionate design of its own.

Codenamed Polo Stuffe the design and development of the sub-4 metre sedan is likely to be outsourced to an Indian design house.

Source:ET

[Aditya]

Volkswagen India has company has rolled out the 4,00,000th car from its plant at Chakan, near Pune. Car no. 4,00,000 is a Polo hatchback Highline variant, built for the domestic market, sporting the company’s new 1.5-litre TDI engine.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

High time the 4m rule goes away. The slab for excise should be kept on weight, FE or pollution.

Why?
I believe the sub 4m duty is excellent way to for govt to place incentive to buy a shorter car compared to longer one. We have quite a congestion problem in India.

Indian cities are already congested to hilt and the public transport -the lesser we speak and see the better.

[volkman10]

VW defines its plan for India, sub compact plans below the Polo being de-prioritized.
Vw's Up and Fox ruled out for India.

VW would concentrate on the sub 4 m sedan and the compact SUV.Both are specifically for the Indian market initially. Time frame for launch will be 2016-17.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...polo/1270289/0

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by alpha1

Why?
I believe the sub 4m duty is excellent way to for govt to place incentive to buy a shorter car compared to longer one. We have quite a congestion problem in India.

I was talking from an engineering point of view. The full size sedans have these contraptions well and truly covered in aesthetics, design and build. Especially the way they look, such a shame.

Why not keep separate slabs for hatchbacks and compact sedans? Hatchbacks less than 4m and compact sedans less than 4.4m. This is more inline with the international markets and we will get better engineered products.

How much more can 40cm add to the congestion? That's the difference between Honda City and Amaze. The percentage share of sedans on road is also relatively less when compared to hatchbacks and UVs anyways.

[Gannu_1]

I would be an extremely happy customer if VW could provide over-the-counter sales of some of the parts that are frequently replaced/repaired/renewed just like MGP (Maruti Genuine Parts). For instance, the engine oil. Some of us VW owners are aware that Castrol has some sort of tie up with VW wherein they retail the Magnatec 5W-40 engine oil directly to VW and not third-party oil vendors. We do get other brands of the same grade oil but there is always an apprehension among owners about mixing a different brand with the Castrol grade. VAG diesel engines are notorious for consuming oil during the first 10-15k km and every time the dipstick level falls low, we are being forced to visit the service center for a simple top up. What would have ideally taken 10 minutes takes almost a day! The labor charges for these kinds of services are miniscule - something of the order of Rs. 200-250 IINM. The same goes for the coolant and windshield wiper fluid as well. AC vents, knobs, front/rear logos, headlamps, tail lamps, fog lamps, ORVMs, engine oil, windshield wiper fluid, coolant, filters, fasteners, drain plug - these are all parts that can be stocked at the counter.

Say if someone rear ends the car and damages the tail light along with the bumper and boot lid, the service center will quote an absurdly high rate for repairs and would retain the car for almost a week. The neighbourhood FNG OTOH who does these petty patch-up and dent removal jobs, would complete it in a couple of days at a lesser expense matching the stock paint finish and quality but what of the broken tail light cluster? Take it to the service center! Now if they did OTC sales of the spare parts, we could have got the tail lights and had them replaced ourselves. In fact, the owner’s manual clearly specifies how to renew bulbs on the headlamp, tail lights, fog lights, topping up oil, coolant etc. When they do this, the service centers are benefited in another way - they get time to cater to more crucial jobs that require more attention than these petty ones. I have seen cars being queued up or being rescheduled to a later day because the days are booked! Particularly so, in cities where there is just one VW dealership/service center.

Car owner: Ma’am, my Polo’s first scheduled service is due. Can I bring the car to the service center next week?

Representative: Sorry Sir, all the dates are booked for the next two weeks. Please give me your contact details - we shall get back to you.

Besides, this is something that is India specific. In the Europe and US, one can buy all the OEM spares online.

The downside of this approach - service centers generate lesser income. I am not sure how this can be tackled. Increase the price of the spare parts to cover this expense?

[Kanasu]

VW is opening its spares center in Bengaluru next year is what I read recently. It would go a long way in consolidating its bad impression among the folks.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

The same goes for the coolant and windshield wiper fluid as well. AC vents, knobs, headlamps, tail lamps, fog lamps, ORVMs, engine oil, windshield wiper fluid, coolant, filters, fasteners, drain plug - these are all parts that can be stocked at the counter.

In fact, the owner’s manual clearly specifies how to renew bulbs on the headlamp, tail lights, fog lights, topping up oil, coolant etc. When they do this, the service centers are benefited in another way - they get time to cater to more crucial jobs that require more attention than these petty ones.

The downside of this approach - service centers generate lesser income. I am not sure how this can be tackled. Increase the price of the spare parts to cover this expense?

I would say they are doing it deliberately to hold back customers so that they keep having grip on them and not loose the income generated by the petty repair jobs like oil change etc which can be done by self or an FNG.

If a customer buys the part outside from a VW stockist, the amount goes to VW, BUT the charges like labour, service charge is lost since you would go to an FNG where the guy wont charge so heavily or a DIY.

Maruti has a large customer base with car 'N' number of times greater than VW so in a way he is not worried of loosing customers or the money generated from shoddy jobs.

The service centre has a loss in such attitude:

1) They loose customers due to long waiting to get the car serviced or for the shoddy job

2) Frustrated customers who generate more of negative feedback than being happy.

They need to be more open and give out the basic parts at counters so that their ASC's aren't overloaded.

Anurag.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I would be an extremely happy customer if VW could provide over-the-counter sales of some of the parts that are frequently replaced/repaired/renewed just like MGP (Maruti Genuine Parts).

This is what a probe by the investigative arm of fair-play watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) found in mid 2012. Has nothing come of it?

Originally Posted by CCI

A section of car makers has allegedly been found engaging in anti-competitive practices by withholding sales of spare parts in the free market, resulting in controlled and hefty prices at dealerships and service centers.

Companies, including Volkswagen, Honda, Ford and General Motors, said they would study the report before commenting on it, while Toyota stuck with the stand of exclusivity.

The thread with details can be found here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2821760

[vb-saan]

An interesting article by Autocar UK on why VW's plan to buy Fiat-Chrysler failed!
Excerpts below:

Rather than being in a position to create the world’s biggest car maker and execute probably the most ambitious merger plan in automotive history, VW Group management is now involved in a major fire-fighting exercise.

Although it is selling huge numbers of cars and makes healthy profits, the core VW brand – which accounts for 5.9m of the group’s 9.7m sales – saw its profit margins slide below two per cent for the first half of 2014, with a risk of even lower margins next year.

With rivals Toyota and Hyundai making margins of over eight per cent with their mainstream cars, the mighty VW brand is, by comparison, in trouble.

According to industry reports, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is looking at cost savings of £4bn per year from 2017. These plans could see a number of ‘low profit’ models simply chopped. For example, the Eos (7651 sales last year) and Scirocco (23,400 sales) could be axed.

The Up city car family will also come under scrutiny, because its expensively engineered NSF platform is shifting less than 200,000 units per year in VW, Skoda and Seat guises.

[rejoycjohn]

Originally Posted by vb-san

An interesting article by Autocar UK on why VW's plan to buy Fiat-Chrysler failed!
Excerpts below:

This is exactly where the VW fails. They have amazing engineering & RnD division, excellent engine and gear box options. But when they come to decide what engine and transmission should go into its cars, they just ruin it.
Take the example of Up!- its a car well designed and compact, but the company offers only 1 L engines. They can easily give diesel options and even 1.2 TSi engines for those who want that extra power to cruise the motorways.

VW cars globally demand a bit more premium than its competitors and one major component in a car that can justify this is its engine.

Still VW Up! as per Wiki is the 3rd largest selling city car in Europe.

[volkman10]

VW draws its plan for India.

Polo is in -the compact hatchback car will remain a core segment of the market and Polo has its place there, while the Vento will have a place in the sedan segment

Within next two to three years you can expect Volkswagen bringing compact SUV and sub-four metre compact sedan.will launch SUVs to compete with the leaders of the segment.

We are looking for sweet spots in the compact and mid-size SUVs. Compact is obviously bigger and faster growing segment. But I also believe that the mid-size SUV segment will play an important role even though the numbers are relatively low.

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...mayer/39823776

[RavenAvi]

Volkswagen India has started assembling it's 1.5L TDI engine at it's Chakan plant near Pune.

A new diesel engine assembly line and a complete engine-testing facility have been added, which is a total investment of 30 million Euros (about Rs. 240 crores).

The engine to be assembled in the country is the new India specific 1.5-litre 4-cylinder diesel TDI unit that made its debut on the 2014 Polo facelift last month and will also power other models in Volkswagen’s lineup in the future.

The assembly of diesel engines in the country increases the levels of localisation on the German giant’s vehicles produced at the Pune facility. The new engine assembly line will be integrated into the existing facility of the Volkswagen plant. The line will function over a total floor space of 3450 sq. mt. and can assemble over 98,000 engines at full capacity in a three-shift system.

The local engine assembly also creates 260 new jobs at the plant, apart from the additional jobs created at the Indian suppliers who will be producing several components for the powerplant in the country.

With a total investment of 680 million Euros, the Chakan facility is the single largest German company to have made such a large investment in the country so far. The facility is spread across 575 acres of land incorporating a press shop, body shop as well as an R&D centre and produces several vehicles from the Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen will commence production at the new engine assembly line by the end of the year.

SOURCE - MotorBeam

[Aditya]

Volkswagen will start assembling the 1.5-litre TDI engine at its plant at Chakan near Pune by the end of 2014.

Link to Team-BHP News Article