The Volkswagen Group, parent company of Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen brands has revealed that the company will begin the assembly of the 2.0-litre TDI diesel engine, in India, by December this year. It will be assembled at the company’s Chakan facility in Pune. There will be a single assembly line that has been set up for the new engine.
The decision will mean that the custom duty bill might be reduced by approximately 10-30 per cent, which will inturn help Audi reduce its vehicle price in the country by a considerable margin. This will further help Audi strengthen its sales in India while also helping it claim the top position amongst the German manufacturers selling their range in the country. Moreover, this would also help speeding up the manufacturing process that will indeed reduce the waiting period for customers.
The new engine will find its place in Audi A4 and A6 sedans, Skoda Octavia and Superb sedans, compact luxury crossover SUV Q5, the Volkswagen Passat and the Jetta. Moreover, Volkswagen’s compact crossover Tiguan TDI and Skoda’s next gen Vision S SUV also stand a chance to benefit from it. If introduced in Skoda and Volkswagen models, we can expect to see a drop in prices for their cars too. As the engine would be built here, customers can expect friendlier maintenance cost and lesser time being spent in the workshops for all three brands.
