VW Jetta Coming To India Next Year

Anthony Fontanelle
August 22, 2007

German automaker Volkswagen will be pulling all the stops on its India venture. Next year, the automaker will be rolling out the Jetta sedan from Skoda’s Aurangabad plant.

The VW Jetta will be assembled in the plant using completely-knocked-down kits from Puebla, Mexico. The automaker said that the operation will continue until 2009 when it plans to move to its own Rs plant in Pune. The 2,450-crore plant has an annual capacity of 110,000 units. The company will invest approximately Rs 2,500 crore in this facility.

Andreas Prinz, the managing director of Volkswagen India, told Business Standard that the mid-size car would be priced competitively and it will be aligned with the likes of the Honda City. This places it in the Rs 7 lakh to Rs 9 lakh bracket, which has models like the Hyundai Verna, the Maruti Suzuki SX4 and the Ford Fiesta. The segment recorded sales of 200,000 cars last fiscal.

Prinz added that the company plans to price this car competitively for the Indian market. VW is going to challenge existing product lines in this segment including Hyundai Verna, the Maruti Suzuki SX4 and the Ford Fiesta.

The German automaker is pushing for rapid development in India since it feels it was missing out on growth opportunities in the territory due to its focus on other markets especially China. VW has three dealerships in India and is now opening more countrywide.

The VW Passat, the first Indian-assembled car, will be launched on September 5 from the same Skoda facility. A VW spark plug ignites even brighter as the automaker announces its plan to unveil the Jetta, a Golf hatchback based on the A5 platform. The Jetta features trusted auto parts accessories that made the German automaker renowned worldwide. The car will be flaunting better styling, trim, and interiors.

According to the automaker, the name Jetta is inspired by “jet stream” and has been in production for 27 years. The Jetta is likely to be launched both in the petrol and diesel versions and priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 9 lakh. About two lakh cars were sold in the midsize segment in India in the last financial year. The company is likely to opt for a 1.6-litre engine as part of its petrol lineup, using the automaker’s patented FSI technology. For diesel engines, VW is likely to borrow the 1.9-litre TDI engine from Skoda, as found in its Octavia model in India, Business Standard revealed. The Euro III ready engine will allow Volkswagen to price the car competitively. The German automaker might adopt different trim models with top-end versions of petrol and diesel featuring anti-lock braking system and airbags as standard.

Industry sources suggest that VW has recently implemented a new global sourcing plan that rewards suppliers who achieve lower price targets by making them part of new model strategies. This might mean Indian suppliers for the Jetta can be a part of VW’s global supply chain.

Additionally, VW has recently set up a sales company called Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited in Mumbai to concentrate on the Indian market.

Source:  Amazines.com