Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles division is considering the possibility of bringing the Caddy to the Indian market. The VW Caddy is a basic, multi-purpose van that’s used as a taxi in various parts of the world. The vehicle is available in various seating configurations.
VW’s commercial vehicles arm is looking at tying up with an Indian partner for setting up a new joint venture business in the country. According to reports in the media, the company is already in talks with some potential partners, and a decision is likely to be taken in the next few weeks.
Audi has confirmed plans to launch a small electric city car, likely to be based on the VW Up! concept. Peter Schwarzenbauer, who sits on the management board at Ingolstadt, told Autocar “We will offer a pure electric car” at last week’s Paris motor show.
Schwarzenbauer was responding to rumours that Mini is planning an electric version of the Cooper for the LA motor show in November. He went on to reveal that the small electric Audi “will not be based on the A1″, the firm’s premium supermini, which was previewed by a concept car in Paris.
The German car maker, Volkswagen, is planning to bring its global research and development centre to India. The centre will be set up in Pune and will eventually produce vehicles for global market. “India has a good resource of engineering talent. We will build up our technical centre at Pune. After sometime, may be in 5-6 years time, we may have global car developed in India,” Volkswagen Executive Vice-President and Member of Board Ulrich Hackenberg said at the Paris Auto Show here.
Other Car majors like Honda and Suzuki already have their research and development centres established in India. Apart from bringing its research and development centre to India, Volkswagen also plans to launch its commercial vehicles in the country.
Volkswagen is currently studying the feasibility of launching commercial vehicles in India so that it can launch its LCV models in the country. It is investing 560 million Euros to set up a manufacturing unit in Chakan, near Pune. It is already bringing its compact sedan, VW Polo to India, next year.
German auto major Volkswagen Group says it expects to take a final decision on its plans to enter the Indian light commercial vehicles market by the end of this year, even as it rules out tying up with a local partner for such a venture.
“We, as a big automobile company, constantly keep evaluating possibilities. Emerging markets, including India, are key to our expansion programme not only in cars but also in commercial vehicles,” Volkswagen Group Chairman Martin Winterkorn said on the sidelines of Paris Auto Show.
He said VW group is currently undertaking a feasibility study for its planned foray into the Indian LCV market. Asked if the group would consider partnership with a local firm for the venture, he replied in the negative. “No, we do not intend to,” Winterkorn said.
Controlled by the Porsche and Piëch families, Porsche Automobil Holding has acquired an additional 4.89 percent of Volkswagen, pushing its stake to more than 35 percent - another step towards assuming de facto control over VW.
‘Our goal continues to be to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 percent. We look forward to continuing and intensifying our cooperation with the managing board of Volkswagen, which is based on a spirit of mutual trust, and are hoping for a quick resolution of the conflict between the employee representatives of Porsche and VW,’ said Wendelin Wiedeking, CEO, Porsche.
Porsche is currently awaiting the results of European antitrust and regulatory proceedings, before going ahead with acquiring an even bigger stake in VW. The antitrust proceedings are expected to be completed shortly.
The ongoing power struggle between VW and Porsche is also a family feud between cousins Wolfgang Porsche (Chairman, Porsche’s supervisory board) and Ferdinand Piëch (Chairman, VW’s supervisory board). Wolfgang is said to be gunning for Ferdinand and wants him out. How this daytime soap opera-type saga finally plays out will determine the destinies of Germany’s biggest car companies, Porsche, VW and Audi, which is also a part of the VW Group. And in the long run, it’s also likely to affect the Indian operations of the three companies.
Fiat recently launched the 500 and BMW is planning to launch the MiniCooper. Hence Mercedes Benz thought why not us, why should we stay behind? They (Mercedes India) say that they are evaluating a possibility for introducing the A Class range in India. “We are evaluating the Indian market regarding price positioning and overall perception of the company as far as the A Class range is concerned. However, we have not taken any decision so far whether and when to introduce the A-Class car in India,” says someone from Mercedes Benz India.
Street word has it that the new VW Gol, South America exclusive, will be called VW Voyage in Brazil. The name Senda and Gacel will be used in other South American countries. These are the new images of the model parked outside the Brazilian president’s residence, Palácio da Alvorada.
