Volkswagen’s Pune plant welcomes its 50,000th visitor from NGO Sparsh Balgram

More than four years after Volkswagen India started Visitor Services for its Pune plant, the program has welcomed its 50,000th visitor last week. Rounding off this milestone was a group of students and co-ordinators from the NGO Sparsh Balgram. As a gesture of support towards the cause and to celebrate this jubilee, Volkswagen India extended Rs 50,000 to the NGO for the welfare activities it undertakes.

Established in September 2011, Visitor Services at Volkswagen Pune Plant has been focussing on showcasing how German engineering is made in India. Through this activity, Volkswagen India offers an opportunity to witness production of cars at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chakan, Pune. The plant tours conducted under this programme start with a short company presentation followed by a walk through the Body Shop and Assembly.

The visitors are also given information about the Press Shop and an illustrated overview of the Paint Shop. In the Body Shop, the visitors get a chance to witness key processes like Laser Welding and Inline Measurement Systems, whereas the highlights in Assembly include Cockpit assembly and the Engine-Chassis Marriage. Based on the target audience, tailor-made plant visits have also been designed.

On an average, two plant visits are conducted every working day and each group of visitors can have the plant visit with the plant tour guide giving information in Marathi, Hindi, English or German. The 50,000 visitors who have taken a tour of the Volkswagen Pune Plant include a wide range of people – from school to university students and customers to global delegates. Volkswagen employees’ families also get special spots for seeing the work place where their family member works.

Sparsh Balgram (Shelter and Rehabilitation Centre for HIV/AIDS infected children) visited Volkswagen Pune Plant with its 14 children and two co-ordinators today and got detailed insights on how the company manufactures its cars in India.

“What we experienced today was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was a thrilling experience for us to see how the cars that we see every day on the road are really built. To get so close to the robots and see them operating was the highlight of the tour!” said one of the children visiting the plant.

Mahesh Yadav, co-ordinator from Sparsh Balgram said, “The name Volkswagen always brings to mind German engineering. To be able to witness it first hand was really a memorable experience. We would like to thank Volkswagen India for giving us this opportunity and also for supporting our noble cause at Sparsh Balgram with gift cheque that they handed over to us.”