Volkswagen drops Passat from India line-up

German auto giant Volkswagen has discontinued production of its premium sedan, the Passat in India. The decision to drop the car from its portfolio was taken by the company in wake of the shrinking demand for the model.

Volkswagen has managed to sell just 235 units of the Passat in the period June-November 2013. The last two months have been particularly poor with the company not managing to sell even a single copy of the car. The Passat was offered with a 2.0 TDI engine and priced between Rs. 26 lakh and Rs. 32 lakh. Entry level offerings from luxury manufacturers like BMW, Audi and Mercedes were not much costlier and had a better brand image, which resulted in customers moving away from Volkswagen showrooms.

In its segment the car competed with the Skoda Superb, the Nissan Teana, the Toyota Camry, the Hyundai Sonata and the Honda Accord. The Honda Accord has already been axed for similar reasons to that of the Passat and the lack of a diesel motor. The Camry, Teana and Sonata have been posting equally dismal sales figures. Only the Superb has managed to record decent sales figures, with 507 cars being sold in the period June-November 2013.

The all-new Passat is expected to make its global debut in 2014. However, Volkswagen has not disclosed any plans of bringing it to India.

Source: Autocar India