VW planning Seat for India

Volkswagen AG is planning to introduce the Seat brand into the Indian automotive sector. If launched in India, the Seat range of cars are expected to rival Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai in the Rs. 3 – 5 lakh small car, mass market.

Seat mostly sells hatchbacks such as Ibiza, Leon, Mii and Altea which are built around Volkswagen platforms. Currently, the brand is doing a feasibility check on the Indian market and if the project gets a green light, we can have Seat cars running on the streets within the next 3-4 years.

Heavy localisation is the key focus for this project and Seat could use Volkswagen’s Chakan facility for manufacturing. For FY14, Skoda and Volkswagen have reported 31% and 20% sales drop respectively. This is another reason why Volkswagen does not want to ignore the fast moving B segment cars for India.

Source – Financial Express