UPDATE 1Volkswagen aims to raise India sales with new models
(Adds details, quotes, background)
NEW DELHI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Germany’s Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research)
hopes to sell 110,000 cars a year in India starting 2009, the
firm said on Wednesday, and plans to launch two models new to
the country’s market this year, including the Jetta.
Annual passenger vehicle sales in India are forecast to
nearly double to 2 million units by 2010 and Volkswagen aims to
cut its traditional reliance on European drivers by focusing on
emerging markets like India.
Joerg Mueller, president of Volkswagen’s Indian operations,
said at an annual auto show in the Indian capital that the
company also planned to introduce a small car in India in 2010.
“These are the key components of our strategy in India,”
said Jochem Heizmann, a board member of Volkswagen AG.
The Jetta, which will initially be assembled at a plant run
by associate Skoda in Aurangabad in western Maharashtra state,
will be launched in mid-2008, while the larger Phaeton sedan
would hit the streets later in the year, Mueller said.
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Volkswagen, which sells the Passat Sedan in India, had
earlier said it is investing about $530 million to set up a
plant near the western city of Pune to achieve its sales
target.
The plant will begin by producing Skoda’s Fabia model in
2009 and will then build the planned small car from 2010, which
will be based on the Polo platform, Mueller said. Continued…
