[SkyWalker]

I was surprised to see multiple page color advertisement in Times today from VW. I haven't seen such an effort from any manufacturer since i remember.

Anywayway, apart from telling people how to pronounce VW , and emphasizing its heritage - including Audi and SKoda, they also have a full page on the Chakan plant. But most interesting - promise 3 cars to come by 2009 Dec

Touareg : 3L V6 Diesel
Beetle : a 2L, 115 bhp, 6 speed DSG Auto petrol
Polo : They emphasize it as "German Engineering, Made in India". There are already threads on this.

This company is sure making some great moves in India. I am excited to see the bug here (i guess it will be priced quite high as an import though).

Link to Times of India E Paper

Some screenshots from the Paper

[kiren]

13 Pages of Advertisement wow!. Today its VW Times of India. Touareg & Beetle coming in December. However no news on Polo.

[SkyWalker]

Kiren, the last last page (Chakan Plant) - they claim the plant will start rolling out Polo by end 2009. But yeah - it surprising that Polo didn't get a seperate page considering the money they spent!

[vikrantj]

I was totally blown away by VW ads in ToI . A full page or a half page ad on EVERY page of ToI. So it now seems that VW is pull up its socks and may have started to realize that they can take Indian customers for granted. They are releasing three models in Dec. Thats really exciting, but the million dollar (or rather Euros) question is are we to expect lemons from a mad dash to release new cars in the year end so that it looks good before their shareholders about being committed to Indian market or is that a well thought out and calculated move where VW has seriously considered their defects and faults and trying to come out of it.

--Vikrant

[chevelle]

can somebody scan the ad and post here

don't have access to TOI.

Thanks

[pb10gagan]

i was also surprised to see such huge advertisement.

i guess it was a first by any of the automobile manufacturers.

i think VW have upped the game in india. its always nice to see the world's largest manufacturer taking the indian market seriously.

[pb10gagan]

the first page



the reverse of second page




for the rest you can read the e-paper edition

[Ravveendrra]

The sheer acerage of the ads took me by surprise. I guess VW can afford it being the largest car manufacturer. I only hope they follow up with decent dealers and A.S.S. as well as sustained advertising.

Cheers,

[shatrughna]

My whole family was amused to see the Volkswagen Times of India edition today and we relished on all the pics - Beetle looks cute , lovely awesome. This was the first time ( that I remember in last 15 years) that any Automobile manufacturer had almost booked all the pages in the leading daily- Times. Of course, Touareg was the one that I was most interested in. Incidentally, 2 weeks back, while looking for Royal Enfiled showroom, I saw the VW showroom being readied at Navi Mumbai.

They already had a Jetta and Passat on display and this is where I showed it to my family.

[raamki]

yep, their 13 page ad surely took me by surprise as well, first i've seen by a car manufacturer!!
volkswagen times more than bangalore times this morning!!

only hope they're here to stay and make cars for every budget (almost)!! personally love the beetle sports, what do you guys think the price on that is going to be? less than 10lacs possible?

[sabret00the]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

I was surprised to see multiple page color advertisement in Times today from VW. I haven't seen such an effort from any manufacturer since i remember.

Anywayway, apart from telling people how to pronounce VW , and emphasizing its heritage - including Audi and SKoda, they also have a full page on the Chakan plant. But most interesting - promise 3 cars to come by 2009 Dec

Touareg : 3L V6 Diesel
Beetle : a 2L, 115 bhp, 6 speed DSG Auto petrol
Polo : They emphasize it as "German Engineering, Made in India". There are already threads on this.

This company is sure making some great moves in India. I am excited to see the bug here (i guess it will be priced quite high as an import though).

Damn your fast man. I wanted to post this "SCOOP" but you proved to be faster than me. Even I was taken aback by the sheer scale of marketing. Volkswagen is definitely betting bigtime on India. I'm sure with 3 cars (Beetle, Touareg & Polo) that they have promised in December along with the existing models in India they are planning to make a foray into all the various segments of India Car Industry. Volkswagen is also going to flood the Indian market with cars from its other Brands which is what I could understand by reading the ad this morning. The Chakan plant has a huge capacity and 2010 is going to be a year to watch out for. Likes of Maruti and Hyundai better start preparing for the next year.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by sabret00the

Damn your fast man. I wanted to post this "SCOOP" but you proved to be faster than me.

thanks abret00the But more importantly you got the pics for everyone. Thanks for the scans!

[kiren]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

Kiren, the last last page (Chakan Plant) - they claim the plant will start rolling out Polo by end 2009. But yeah - it surprising that Polo didn't get a seperate page considering the money they spent!

Yes I missed this part.

VW sure is trying to build confidence in the Indian market. With Skoda having serious problems with the after sales, looks like VW is trying to ensure that they donot repeat the same.

This is what they say.

HERE TODAY. HERE TOMMORROW

12 YEAR ANTI-CORROSION WARANTY

COST OF OWNERSHIP (SERVICE INTERVAL OF 1YEAR/15,000KMS)

[rajivn]

Wow is the word when you look at huge multi page ad. Half the newspaper is filled with VW ad. Never seen anyone leave alone a car manufacturer indulge in such a massive ad campaign. This one ad, will establish that such a brand does exist here in peoples minds. I think many people in first place are not aware that Volkswagen exists in India. Even if they have heard or known the brand, not many know the history and value this marquee carries and what it actually means to own a VW.

[StarVegabond]

This is what we marketeers call staring from ground zero and Right Positioning

1. Introducing the Logo, Innovation platform, Folks Wagon = People's car positioning

2. Sharing Rich Heritage (started in 1937) and German Engineering, Quality, Value, Performance

3. Innovations in Safety, Comfort, Ease of Drive and Fuel Efficiency and Technologies behind it

4. Introducing (or Reintroducing) Jetta, Passat, Touareg and New Beetle

5. Reasonable overall cost of ownership due to German Engineering, Quality, Value

6. Showcasing the National Dealership network as of Nov 2009

7. Local MFG, 110K car capacity, 580M Euro investment, tryign to build a positioning TRUST (here Today, Here Tomorrow, will not run away)

Brilliantly executed, might have costed few Crores (atleast a couple for sure), a True Marketeer's Delight

the key is

1. maintaining the consistancy of this positioning and messaging
2. truely delivering the promise of innovation, performance, comfort, safety, fuel efficiency, ease of drive, cost of ownership, customer expereince
3. Continue to build trust with consumers by doing above two again and again

All the best Volkswagen