Volkswagen is looking to take Indian operations more seriously going forward. The German carmaker expects the Indian arm of the Volkswagen Group to be more active in the global operations of the entire Group. One of the key reasons for this is to explore new strategic growth opportunities in emerging markets.
Thomas Schafer, Global CEO at Volkswagen Passenger Cars told the media that there is a lot of developments happening across the global. As of now, the two major global markets are the North American and Chinese markets. However, due to various reasons, it is not possible to operate both these cohesively. The issue mostly pertains to usage of IP rights and parts and technologies across both these aforementioned markets.
Hence, there is scope for further strengthening other markets apart from these two from a global supply chain point of view. This is where India comes into the picture. The top honchos at Volkswagen are working on plans for fresh investments in India. These investments will be split between products and capacity expansion. The German auto giant expects India to maintain the same growth levels post the implementation of the India 2.0 strategy going ahead.
One of the key aspects of the Indian market is its all-or-nothing strategy to success. Volkswagen has realised that there is no mid-way to development in India. Either there are all in or nothing. Hence taking this as a key learning from their India 2.0 strategy, the company will now implement the updated strategy for the electric vehicle segment in India.
The carmaker will have 100% localisation for the next-generation of electric vehicles. As of now, VW is testing out the ID.4 electric car in India. This is expected to be placed in the premium segment, but more mass market electrics are expected to arrive soon. The timeline for this is set around 2025. This car could also spawn a SUV based on the same platform as well.
All this means that apart from domestic sales expansion, Volkswagen will also be able to scale up exports for other markets where Volkswagen has a presence.
Also Read – Volkswagen reveals new ID. 2all1 electric car concept.