Volkswagen has just rolled out its 3 lakhth (3,00,000th) car from its Pune plant. The German automaker is not only utilising its production plant for local needs but is also exporting vehicles to more than 30 countries across Asia and Africa. The 3 lakhth vehicle to roll out from Volkswagen’s Pune plant is a left-hand drive Vento. The same plant manufactures the Polo and Skoda Rapid (the Fabia was also produced here). It has taken the company slightly more than 4 years to roll out its 3 lakhth vehicle.
Now the crucial question is how Volkswagen has managed to reduce prices. The German automaker reduced prices of the Polo and Vento last year, when it gave the vehicle a mild update. The price reduction happened in spite of the features being increased on both vehicles. So how has VW managed this? On dwelling deep into the matter, we have got information for our sources that the company has increased localisation on both these vehicles. Earlier many parts used to come from Germany but are now being locally sourced.
Some of these parts are being made in India completely, like the door handles. Obviously Volkswagen will have strict quality requirements for vendors as the automaker firmly believes in quality and attention to detail. This is the reason why the Polo was launched at a higher price tag, as the parts were expensive. Now with increased local sourcing, we can expect spare part pricing of Volkswagen cars to fall too. However the Wolfsburg based automaker really needs to address the casual attitude of its dealers, if the company wants to increase sales and become a prominent player in the Indian automobile industry.
