[Vmv]

In my opinion, VW is planning more localization for new products to reduce the price of the car and spares. They wanted to try a JV with Tata to utilize the Alpha platform for their new gen cars, but something came up and they dropped the plan. Hope they will find a solution immediately for the new generation Polo and Vento which we would love to try.

The new plan may not bring much difference to the sales because VW customers are in a different segment who visit the VW showroom wherever it is.

[bipinbn]

What an irony!!

Not sure if this strategy is going to take them anywhere.

I own a 2013 Jetta Diesel Highline manual. I usually do the Mysore-Bangalore route twice a month and for past two months didn't use the Jetta since I had another spare car and had left Jetta in Mysore.

So driving it again after a break, I felt such joy. Properly properly sorted out car. Even more after the Pete's tune.

Look at some of the threads in team-bhp, The "Best handling cars thread", the "timeless cars in India" thread, "Push into the seat feeling" thread, well built cars thread, the Jetta is frequently mentioned , so are other VW cars.

I would any day pick a latest gen Polo over a i20 or any other premium hatchback even if I have to shell out some more money. Same with many of my friends.

VW has to bring in the new cars, yes there is Dieselgate scandal losses they are struggling but such struggles are not new to Auto majors, they have to bounce back.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by GTO

As the saying goes, there is no problem in the car industry that a good car cannot solve. Dumb fools are primarily selling a decade-old line up. What they need is relevant, well-priced, competent new cars.

I agree. Every alternate year, they come up with new strategy for India, and while they were busy strategizing, the Polo just completed 10 years in India. And it’s not that they don’t have any new models in their line-up. I won’t be surprised to see 15 year celebration of Polo and still they are pondering on how to tackle Indian market. In comparison, the lesser sibling Skoda seems to have better-sorted plans.

[Lambydude]

I think VW strategy was and will always be linked to the combined strategy of VW group ( including Skoda).

For example, I have heard that withdrawing Fabia by Skoda was to aid Polo sales and the same was reciprocated by discontinuing Jetta to help Octavia.

[AMG Power]

Its an old trick and it's called distraction. The Board will think the management is working and the meetings will consume a lot of time discussing this waste of time called "new initiative" before they come to actual sales.

Management has to appear to be doing something rather than actually doing anything.

Some sharp guy on the Board needs to tell the India management to GET OFF their backsides and start selling cars instead of fooling around with this sort of crap.

Time they realise that nothing done by VW India's management has ever worked and never will.

[SaiSW]

I was thinking of why they haven't yet combined Skoda and VW showrooms and also their servicing, sort of like Fiat and Jeep IIRC.

I do not know if they already are doing so but in my city they are still separate. Both are from the same parent, both offer car with pretty much the same underpinnings, why not just make a combined showroom, like the ones I've seen in America, of BMW. They also sell Mini in their showrooms, or atleast the ones that I've seen.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by Lambydude

For example, I have heard that withdrawing Fabia by Skoda was to aid Polo sales and the same was reciprocated by discontinuing Jetta to help Octavia.

To be precise, when all 4 cars were selling in paltry numbers (compared to peers) it was much better economically to sell 1 in each segment, reduce SKU/part intenvory & overheads, reduce the staff required potentially by half & let each of the brands take a piece of the pie eithout eating from each other's plates. Thats what transpired into 1 from each stable getting dropped in India.

The Octavia has a place in the heart, we like it. Jetta really was a Volkswagen. A car for the "Volk" when looked at. Too boring from the outside & nothing spectacular. While I liked the understated looks, masses won't. On the other hand - the old gen Fabia looked too simple compared to the sharp looks of the Polo.

[Mission_PGPX]

Its something to do with VW being z German and very very cost sensitive. I work in Sales for z German organization. We are the world's no 1 gases company. However, presence in Indian market is comparatively low. Some of the terms and conditions of doing business in India are very hard for their DNA to accept. Specially those which make the organization's existence at stake. Another thing is that the change takes hell of a time, that too when you have siblings competing with you. The entry of Tiguan I believe could have been atleast 3-4 years earlier smelling the love of Indians for SUVs. However, recently, the car has been seen more presence on Indian roads. I personally love VW products for sure, Tiguan is a very competent car. Now I hear that they are launching Passat with that 1.8 TSI. The point is they have everything that the Indian market needs in their portfolio, but a confused management of sibling rivalry is killing things.

Again pricing is a different ball game altogether. There is this minimum profit margin which comes into play. No matter what, they will never do business below that. And trust me, those are fat as well. Look at the pricing and discounts on Polo GT since launch of the same for example.

Originally Posted by GTO

As the saying goes, there is no problem in the car industry that a good car cannot solve. Dumb fools are primarily selling a decade-old line up. What they need is relevant, well-priced, competent new cars.

[nikhilthegunner]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Most importantly - this strategy makes no mention of any quick introduction of current generation cars. Thats what is really causing them to struggle in the first place. People know that the Polo/Vento (and Skoda siblings) are old gen & not upto the mark of what is sold in their main markets. These are the volume cars & are priced at a premium over the others in the segment.

If that is to continue & same cars are to continue with different CUP EDITION, BOTTLE EDITION, PLATE EDITION, SPOON EDITION, MUG EDITION - then its not going to change the fortunes of this brand here.

They are walking the same line as Nissan pretty much.

I'd say that their "strategy" (Assuming they actually care) is more on the lines of Fiat than anyone else. Nissan at least brought in 1 new car, whether they're in business to bring in another car is a whole other story.

Fiat on the other hand went more like this -

5 years earlier (I think)
Customers - " Please introduce new cars yaar, the Linea and Punto are getting slightly old."
Fiat - " Yeah yeah don't worry! We'll bring the Bravo, the Cronos and other cars from our international portfolio!" (To their own people "Repeat that story forever we're not getting anything here. We're minting money from MSIL on engines so we'll stick to that only.")

2019
Customers - "What happened bro? Where are the new cars da?"
Fiat - "Oh! Uhh we're shutting down! Nice knowing you, bye!"

[pganapathy]

VW has a factory in South Africa that manufactures and designs RHD vehicles. I really do believe that all they need to do is send some of their team there and figure out what vehicles work for the Indian market. Trying to localise cars for the Indian market is too expensive and time-consuming unless you have a good base to work from, and India only ever had that for a short while with the Skoda.

Whether VW will be able to sell well in India is debatable. They have not shown a willingness to understand and adapt to the Indian market, unlike Hyundai. Actually, most car companies other than Maruti and Hyundai are small manufacturers in India, with Tata and Mahindra most likely to succeed

[Abhejit]

Can't believe this theme of VW evaluating their India strategy keeps coming up again and again, and their management keeps making vacuous statements without actually acknowledging what is going wrong.

In another thread, we're marking ten years of the Polo in India. Till a few years ago, Polo ruled the roost in the premium hatchback segment, in fact, if i may dare say, it mainstreamed the premium hatch segment. Fiat's gone, Renault is running around aimlessly, and VW is still trying to figure out its strategy. Are the communication lines between mainland Europe and India really that poor?

Was really hoping that I can upgrade from my 7 year, much-loved, dependable, well-built Polo to a new VW vehicle (had my eyes on Jetta) but guess that's not happening anymore.

[NST440]

At this junction, VW India is done and dusted with their age old design, mundane interiors and greedy ASS, expensive spare parts no matter how robust the vehicle is, other companies are catching up fast. Not to mention the heart breaking resale value one gets while trading in for a new vehicle.

Cost cutting and reduction of manpower at dealership level alone can not save the sinking ship, and its funny to see that they are celebrating 10 years of laziness and reluctant approach towards a market which showed interest in their vehicles. Novelty and commitment seems to be highly lacking and with the entry of brands like KIA and MG, things are only going to become more sour for the dormant Germans.

Many a times while going through these kind of topics I feel that are the people at the helm of affairs of such companies so dumb to understand the market's need and sentiments or is it too easy for us to make a remark and too difficult to implement at company's level.

[Ketan T]

Originally Posted by Abhejit

Was really hoping that I can upgrade from my 7 year, much-loved, dependable, well-built Polo to a new VW vehicle (had my eyes on Jetta) but guess that's not happening anymore.

Same with me. I am eager to see what new car they actually bring out. Now they are saying that they are considering building a Polo based on MQB A0. Link to article: https://auto.ndtv.com/news/volkswage...atform-2085799

[vadakkus]

Another hollow tinkering exercise from a Western carmaker pretending to care about the Indian market. They are only trying to while time away for as long as possible until they recoup their expenses before deciding on the inevitable. This funny 'pop-up' exercise shows no commitment to the dealers or the customers, but is aimed only and only to cut company overheads.

Let's face it, European and American car companies are not making money in India. They are as confused and non-committed to the market as they where when they entered 20 years ago. They will not invest in products, research, customer engagement, innovation or anything, but seem to be continuing only because they have entered. VW, Skoda, Ford, Chevrolet, Fiat, Renault, all the same.

Why they do not try to make solid investments in India and gain brand confidence is anybody's guess. I wonder why Fiat can do this in Brazil but will not do it in India. Is it because Indian are so single-mindedly focused on fuel efficiency and cheap-to-run alone? Do they fear that their brand value will get diluted? Or is it because they think we are unworthy of their so-called glorious brands? It is a frustrating situation indeed. It is terribly sad that we are stuck with Japan and Korea (the bad/boring parts of) and are denied the pleasures of quality European cars.

~vadakkus

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by vadakkus

Another hollow tinkering exercise from a Western carmaker pretending to care about the Indian market. They are only trying to while time away for as long as possible until they recoup their expenses before deciding on the inevitable. This funny 'pop-up' exercise shows no commitment to the dealers or the customers, but is aimed only and only to cut company overheads.

Let's face it, European and American car companies are not making money in India. They are as confused and non-committed to the market as they where when they entered 20 years ago. They will not invest in products, research, customer engagement, innovation or anything, but seem to be continuing only because they have entered. VW, Skoda, Ford, Chevrolet, Fiat, Renault, all the same.

Why they do not try to make solid investments in India and gain brand confidence is anybody's guess. I wonder why Fiat can do this in Brazil but will not do it in India. Is it because Indian are so single-mindedly focused on fuel efficiency and cheap-to-run alone? Do they fear that their brand value will get diluted? Or is it because they think we are unworthy of their so-called glorious brands? It is a frustrating situation indeed. It is terribly sad that we are stuck with Japan and Korea (the bad/boring parts of) and are denied the pleasures of quality European cars.

~vadakkus

I doubt it is just with fuel efficiency alone.

Having experienced both american and German in the family (Ford and VW respectively) along with the Maruti, I feel the Japanese spend compatibly less time in the garage and parts are more reliable. Also most parts are available off the shelf and economy of scale works in their favor.

Cars are still aspirational for us and if these brands could establish the trust factor, they could easily sell well in premium segment.

It's a vicious cycle and once they get branded as unreliable, it takes some effort to recover and these is where these brands failed to capture our hearts.