Skoda to drive Volkswagen’s India business – Handle new VW Polo launch?
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 IST
The German auto manufacturer has approved its ‘INDIA 2.0’ strategy and its sister brand, Skoda will be leading the charge in India.
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Volkswagen, one of the largest auto manufacturer across the globe hasn’t had a sweet ride in the Indian market since its entry in 2007. Though its cars are appreciated for their build quality, but the sales charts haven’t been too kind to the group.
To change things around, Volkswagen’s board has approved a new ‘INDIA 2.0’ strategy to address the situation in the Indian market and improve its market share in one of the fastest growing auto markets across the globe.
However, interestingly it will be the Czech automaker Skoda (part of the VW group) which will be driving the INDIA 2.0 strategy for the Volkswagen group in India. With this development, the possibilities of the VW group developing a partnership with Tata Motors have also been ruled out, officially.
Skoda will be focusing upon the development of an India-specific version of the group’s globally reputed MQB – A0 platform. The India specific version, the MQB A0-IN is expected to be the base for all upcoming models from VW’s & Skoda’s stable, starting from 2020. The first model is rumoured to be a Hyundai Creta rival which will be borrowing styling cues from the Vision X SUV.
Additionally, Skoda will also be taking over VW’s Chakan plant which will undergo heavy retooling to accommodate a new line which will be used to build cars based on the upcoming MQB-AO-IN platform. This could mean the launch of the new generation of their cars Polo and Vento.
The new line will run in parallel with the current line which is used to manufacture cars based on the older PQ25 platform like the Skoda Rapid, VW Vento, Ameo and Polo. Currently, Skoda uses its own facility in Aurangabad to produce the other cars from its line-up including the Octavia, Superb and the Kodiaq.
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