German auto company Volkswagen is trying to increase its market share in India, with an aim to get it up to 7 per cent by year 2018. Much like other manufacturers, it would be targeting high growth segments of vehicles in the country. In fact, Volkswagen aims to be the number one auto manufacturer in the world by 2018.
Commenting on the company's growth pattern, Volkswagen India Passenger Cars, Managing Director (MD), Arvind Saxena said, “Our current market share in the Indian car market is around 3 per cent. The target is to achieve around 6 to 7 per cent market share by 2018." He did not disclose any clear details on the vehicles or the segments that would be targeted, but he did mention that new variants of current models and some limited editions would be launched to maintain the interest of buyers. As for the year 2013, he said, “The market continues to be down and we don't expect any growth. We are looking to maintain our market share of last year.”
In the month of November during the previous year, Volkswagen Group Board Member and Executive Vice President Ulrich Hackenberg had mentioned that India would not be very feasible for the introduction of new vehicles such as Up!. Major investments were declared o be on hold till 2015, since the company felt that the economic conditions were not right. He was quoted as saying, "India is a possibility. We are looking at the business case, which is not positive. In connection to the investment we need to do, we are not in the situation to do that."
Volkswagen, at present, has two manufacturing facilities in India located at Chakan and Aurangabad. However, the company faced VAT refund issues with the government of Maharashtra, due to which it could think of setting up fresh factories for building the Up!. Reportedly, Rs 2000 crore were to be invested for expansion of operations in India during January 2012, which was put on hold as the VAT issue remained unsolved. But in the same year, an investment of Rs. 700 crore was also announced to upgrade products and facilities. Industry experts believe that the issue would be resolved soon, keeping in mind the welfare of customers in the country.
