Volkswagen All Set To Hit The Town....

Volkswagen AG is set to establish its footprints in the city on the heels of fellow German auto giants Mercedes, BMW and Audi.
Volkswagen Kolkata, the first showroom of the makers of the iconic Beetle, opened on Budge Budge Trunk Road in December but will become fully operational in April.
Despite the downturn, the company is bullish about the local market.
“Our investment in India, including eastern India, is being made with an eye on the mid-term and the long-term as experts predict a resurgence in demand for automobiles by then. Volkswagen is already witnessing an increase in demand across the country. The plant coming up in Chakan, Pune, will start production this year,” said Kurt Rippholz, a spokesperson for the company.
Uwe Bodendiek, the director (sales and dealer network) of Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, said: “Calcutta is an important automobile market for us in the bid to establish our presence across eastern India. Volkswagen Kolkata is our first step in this upcoming market.”
Volkswagen has already started shortlisting sites for opening a second showroom on the EM Bypass.
“The outlet, spread over 7,000sq ft, will become operational in the third quarter of 2009,” said Rippholz.
The Budge Budge Trunk Road address will be a 4S (sales, service, spares and stocks) facility spread across 17,000sq ft. Tools imported from the Volkswagen headquarters will be used in the workshop, where up to six cars can be serviced every day.
With a product portfolio comprising the Jetta, launched in the country in July 2008 and priced Rs 12.6 lakh (ex-showroom Calcutta), and the Passat, in the Rs 22-23 lakh range, the company will be competing with its Japanese rivals, Honda and Toyota.
Volkswagen has sold 1,500 units of Passat and Jetta in India.
“We are looking at doing 60,000 to 80,000 cars in the next four to five years,” said Rippholz.