Volkswagen India eyes 15% annual growth
German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) is aiming an annual growth rate of at least 15 percent for its sales in India over the next five years, a top company official said here on Tuesday.
The world?s third largest automaker is hoping to sell over 50,000 cars this year even by conservative estimates, having sold about 32,000 units in 2010 which was a ten-fold increase over 2009, Neeraj Garg, VW India Director, told reporters.
Garg was in town to launch the brand?s second dealership in Kolkata, where it wants to double its sales this year, having sold over 1,000 cars in 2010.
VW is aggressively expanding its dealer network and already runs 70 dealerships across 57 cities in India. On Monday the company opened its first dealership in Assam at Guwahati.
?Sales in India are driven by our ‘volume segment’ cars ? the Polo and the Vento. In 2010, we saw a ten-fold increase in our sales particularly due to these cars,? Garg said.
He said that brand identification too has shot up sice 2007, when it entered the Indian market with the Passat. Today it holds a seven-car portfolio ranging from Rs 4.5 lakhs to over Rs 75 lakhs.
VW?s lowest priced car, the Polo, is the company?s largest selling. Last year it sold about 15,000 units followed by the mid-range sedan Vento that sold about 8,000 units.
?This year we are looking at a multi-fold growth and want to expand vigorously into tier-2 and tier-3 level cities. We are looking at cities like Asansol and Siliguri in Bengal for our upcoming dealerships,? Garg said.
In the volume segment, the VW?s Polo and Vento command a share of five and six percent respectively. The higher priced Jetta and Passat hold a combined share of eight to ten percent, he said.
The company currently holds a 2 percent share of India?s passenger car market which currently is of 2.16 million units according to its figures.
By 2018, the Volkswagen Group, which includes the Audi and Skoda brands, wants to capture 20 percent of India?s passenger car market which is expected to go up to 5 million units over the next seven years.
