A few years ago, German auto giant Volkswagen had launched its iconic model, the Beetle, in India. According to sources, the firm wanted to attract buyers by way of the car's superb design and high quality engineering. It was said that the firm wanted to create a platform for the firm's future models, the Polo and Vento. However, contrary to expectations, the Volkswagen Beetle was not able to make a place among car buyers, other than die-hard lovers of the vehicle. In fact, the Polo hatchback and the Vento sedan were able to create a niche for themselves in the country, which was quite surprising given the popularity of the Beetle. In the beginning, the firm had received orders for around 150 models and the waiting period for the same was in approximately 12-18 months. However, these statistics were highly deceptive as they did not project the right picture. In reality, the initial buzz for the Beetle was only among the die-hard lovers of the compact hatchback.
Industry experts feel that this sort of response to the Volkswagen Beetle reflects the trends prevailing in the Indian car market. It is believed that a majority of Indian buyers do not go for the legacy or the class of a vehicle as their buying decisions are based on a different tangent altogether. Another car that suffered due to this sort of mentality is the Fiat 500, which has virtually disappeared after its launch in the year 2008. Pradeep Saxena, Executive Director of TNS Automotive, spoke about this phenomenon. "We still belong to the kitna deti hai culture (what's the mileage). And even while buying a Merc, BMW or Audi, a buyer is very keen on knowing what's the value he is deriving out of it,” he said.
Statistics for the Volkswagen Beetle are quite incredible, depicting the downward sloping graph of the sales. During the time period 2009-10, Volkswagen was able to sell around 192 units of the Beetle, a number that rose to 398 in 2010-2011. However, this is where its fantastic performance ended as the company was able to sell only 59 and 1 units in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, respectively. Reports in the past claimed that the German auto maker gave a discount of up to Rs. 6 lakh on this legendary model. Analysts have claimed that the price sensitivity of Indian buyers has been the main cause of the unfavourable performance of the Beetle. It is a known fact that the Volkswagen Beetle was brought to India as a Completely Built Unit (CBU), which forced the makers to keep a high price tag. The Beetle was launched at an ex-showroom price of Rs. 20. 45 lakh after being imported from the firm's showroom in Mexico. The story of the Fiat 500 has been pretty much same to that of the Volkswagen Beetle. Despite its iconic status, the compact hatchback has not been able to make a mark among Indian car buyers. Till now, the Fiat 500, launched in 2008 at Rs. 14.82 lakh (Ex-showroom, New Delhi), has recorded sales of only 70 units, which has led to its discontinuation.
There are numerous other reasons why these incredibly famous cars have not been able to perform according to expectations. If one was to look from the point of view of a buyer, a compact hatchback in the range of Rs. 15 lakh – Rs. 20 lakh does not seem to be a wise choice. Also, the road presence of a vehicle is important for an Indian buyer, thereby leading them to back out from making such an expensive purchase. "When both these cars were conceived and launched in Europe, it was a different era. The USP of the Volkswagen Beetle was it was a cute little small car and India in 2010 is already filled with numbers of cute little small cars," an expert was quoted as saying.
The reputation of both the brands also had a role to play in the fate of these cars. While people were reluctant to purchase a Fiat due to its troublesome past, Volkswagen was a new brand in India.
