Volkswagen Beetle to be Launched Soon in India

Volkswagen is all set to roll out the Volkswagen Beetle on the Indian roads, in the beginning of December this year. As per information provided by a senior company official, Volkswagen Beetle was meant to be a People's car, but its very high prices fail to live up to that. Volkswagen would import the Beetle as 'Completely Built Unit (CBU)' with a 110 per cent import duty from its Mexican plant, for sale in Indian markets.

Volkswagen is Europe's largest carmaker which already sells the Volkswagen Jetta and Volkswagen Passat sedans and the Touareg SUV in India. The Volkswagen owns Skoda and Porsche vehicles which have already done good sales in India. The group has two facilities in India at Aurangabad and Chakan which assemble cars of its three brands, Skoda, Audi and Volkswagen.

Talking about the proposed launch, a couple of months back, Volkswagen India (Passenger car) Board of Directors, Member Neeraj Garg told reporters "It is an iconic brand and people know more about the car than Volkswagen. It will be brought to India as a completely built unit." At that time, he failed to put any time line for the launch of Beetle, but indicated that it is certainly considering using the 'Beetle' as a brand building strategy for Volkswagen, in order to get into the competitive Indian compact segment.

The Volkswagen Beetle is amongst the most successful models ever produced by the German carmaker. According to the critics, the car is a complete failure due to its peculiar styling, underpowered motor, rough ride and noisy engine. Despite these claims, the car has bucked all trends and made history.

The company as a whole is also expanding in India, by increasing its target. The group earlier announced a target of 8-10 per cent share of the Indian passenger car market in the next 6 years. In the meanwhile, the new Volkswagen Polo is expected to hit the market early next year, with a more affordable price.

By: Amrith K.A.

Related Books:
The Essential Buyer's Guide Volkswagen Beetle
Small Wonder: The Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle