Volkswagen plots India comeback with make-or-break model Taigun

After the 'dieselgate' crisis and the resultant reorganisation of its operations here in late-2018, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India is set for a comeback, boosted by the recovery seen in the past few months, and is also on course for a pre-Diwali launch of its much-awaited compact SUV Taigun.

The company, which had two launches in 2020 as part of its India 2.0 plan under which it was to invest 1 billion euros, is also expanding its reach by adding 15 more touchpoints to 160 this year, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Brand Director Ashish Gupta told PTI over the weekend.

In 2020, the company had launched the 5-seater SUV T-Roc, which was sold out within two months of the launch despite with a price tag of Rs 19.99 lakh, and the 7-seater SUV Tiguan All

Space.

Of the 145 touchpoints, he said 103 are full-service dealerships and the rest are just service centres, and going forward, expansion will be mostly of service centres and that too in small towns.

Gupta also said the German headquarters have already competed the committed 1-billion euro investment and is now on the growth path with focus on profitability.

"In a market where the top-two players alone control almost three-fourths of the market, too much focus on volume does not make sense. Therefore, we are not looking at volume but sustainable existence, with profitability," he said.

He, however, said profitability is still at some distance away as they have been in the investment mode so far.

"For us, 2021 is the year of the Taigun. We are working on a mid-third quarter launch for the compact SUV, which is built on the MQB-AO platform. This is our make-or-break model," Gupta said.

The company is well on track since the past fourfive months clocking excellent volumes. "Both the TRoc and Tiguan Allspace are huge hit having sold out within two months of the launch. "This January, we sold 60 per cent more units (more than 1,000 units) than in the same month in 2020," he said.