VW to ramp up Polo, Vento output on strong demand

The Indian unit of German car maker Volkswagen said today it is seeing high demand for its small cars Polo and Vento, with customers having to wait two or three months for delivery. In view of this, the company is making efforts to increase the volume of production in its Chakan facility near Pune.

Inaugurating a new dealership in western Mumbai, Volkswagen India's director for passenger cars Neeraj Garg said earlier there was a move to increase the production capacity to 1.1 lakh in this facility by December 2011 at an investment of Rs3,800 crore.

As a result, the second shift has commenced for the production for Polo and Vento, he said, adding that there is no fixed volume for the ramping-up.

During November the company sold 4613 units, and the total for all its models for the period of January-November is 26,000 units. The company has simultaneously increased the dealer network to 61, of which five are in metropolitan cities. He said this network volume will soon be increased across the country.

VW's range of cars in India includes the Beat and Polo compact cars, Passat, Phaeton and Jetta sedans, the Touareg SUV and the mid-sized sedan Vento.

Garg said the new Mumbai dealership will sell the entire India portfolio of Volkswagen cars, including the recently launched Vento. It is the fifth authorised dealership of Volkswagen in Mumbai. The new outlet has showroom space for four cars and hosts a state-of-art workshop with 22 bays, including bays for accident repairs and body paint.