German carmaker Volkswagen has been one of the key player in the Indian automotive sector. Volkswagen’s Chakan facility in Pune that was inaugurated way back in 2009 has achieved a new feat as being the centre of highest production facility in 2014 with about 111,444 cars produced here last year. Moreover, as compared to 2013, the Pune facility has witnessed an increase in production of about 11.4% in 2014.
Speaking more on the occasion, Mahesh Kodumudi, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India, said, “The growth was mainly driven by the export volumes that are being produced at our facility, especially for Mexico. Nearly every second car produced from our plant in 2014 was exported to Mexico. The export activities have helped our plant in tackling the volatilities of the domestic market as well as the currency fluctuations. Exports have helped us in creating a strong second leg of our operations in India. However, our main focus still continues to be on the Indian market which has a great potential to grow in the coming years.”
The Pune Volkswagen facility has been delivering some of finest trims from the German carmaker like Vento sedan, Polo hatchback and also Skoda Rapid. Here, about 67,010 units of Vento were produced, along with 33,547 units of Polo and about 10,887 units of Rapid. Speaking more on the occasion, Andreas Lauenroth, Executive Director – Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited added, “We have successfully achieved the highest production number at our plant this year without compromising on quality. The high acceptance of our cars to matured export markets such as Mexico underlines the international standards of manufacturing at our Indian production facility. We managed to shift seamlessly from previous versions of Polo, Vento and Rapid to their updated versions with smooth ramp-ups. This is a clear testimony of the high capabilities of our workforce.”
