The German car major, Volkswagen is gearing up to welcome the Indian festive season in a grand manner. Its Indian subsidiary has declared that the company will be introducing the top-end variants of its best selling Vento sedan and Polo hatchback with new features. However, it will come as a pleasant surprise to the buyers in India that the new refreshed variants will be coming with a rebated price tag of Rs. 5.84 lacs and Rs. 8.75 lacs for the Polo and Vento, respectively. The above figures state that the company has slashed the prices of its iconic models down by Rs. 20,000-50,000.
In order to lure buyers, these new models will be loaded with additional features, including alloy wheels, bluetooth connectivity, navigation system, RCD music system and rear view camera, among others. Managing Director (MD), Passenger Cars, Volkswagen, commented, “Both Polo and Vento have been in the market for close to three years, so we are refreshing them with an aim to offer value to the customers. The introduction of new features in Polo and Vento will further excite the customers as both the carlines will offer much more value now.”
The car maker will commence the sales of its new cars by the third week of September, 2012 across all of its 109 dealerships based in the country. As of now, Volkswagen Polo is being sold with a price tag of Rs. 6.24 lacs for the petrol variant and Rs. 7.36 lacs for the diesel model. While, Volkswagen Vento comes with a price tag of Rs. 10.17 lacs for automatic variant and Rs. 8.95 lacs for manual transmission model. According to the car maker, the top-end variants have been contributing significantly to the overall sales of these two models, accounting for around 40-60 per cent of the total sales.
Presently, the portfolio of Volkswagen in India includes the Polo, Jetta, Beetle, Passat and the Phaeton. In the monthly sales of August 2012, the company reported a decline of around 50 per cent in its sales volume at 4,410 units against the 6,091 units sold in same month of 2011. With this new initiative, the car maker is aiming at boosting its sales and get back on the track again.
Saxena further added, “We are working towards a 3 per cent plus share by the end of the calendar. The market has not been at its best, and the passenger car industry, too, saw a drop of 15 per cent during the period, We plan to increase dealerships from 109 to 150 dealerships by the year-end.’’
In a developing automotive market like India, there are many factors that affect the sales of auto maker, price being the major characteristic. Industry experts believe that with the new rebated pricing, Volkswagen India is moving in a right direction; however, how the market turns out to be in next few months will determine the effectiveness of the same.
