Volkswagen exports 50,000th car from Chakan plant

Volkswagen India has rolled out its 50,000th car, a Vento, off its assembly line in Chakan, Maharashtra. The milestone comes at a time when domestic sales are in a bit of a rut. If you will recall, only last month we told you about Volkswagen’s strong export numbers. 

Now we know, the reason is that the Vento is quite popular in Mexico. The Vento replaced the Jetta Classico in Mexico and from October 2013, demand for the sedan rose rapidly. Approximately 5,000 units of the Vento are shipped every month from Chakan and the German carmaker states that one in every three cars produced from its Pune plant is headed for Mexico in the coming year.

In addition to the North American country, Volkswagen exports to 31 other nations across three continents. In addition to CBU Ventos, parts and components of the Polo and Vento are shipped to Malaysia for assembly in the local market since April 2013. 

Due to high German quality standards and weak sales, VW was struggling with pricing its cars competitively. But economies of scale due to these exports should help VW source parts at cheaper rates and in return should pass it on to the consumer if it has to stay competitive in India. 

Besides the Polo and Vento, Volkswagen sells the Jetta in India. The Passat was discontinued recently due to weak sales but there is hope of smaller more affordable cars under the Polo being introduced in the future in India as Volkswagen will be receiving a go ahead to the budget car project by it’s German management team soon.