Volkswagen India Trains Its Sights On The Hyundai Creta

Volkswagen is one of the most successful car manufacturers the world over but one of the few countries where it has not been able to make a mark is India. Though it has been here since 2007, VW has struggled to take the fight to established players like Maruti Suzuki or Hyundai.

While the company does recognise that meeting its goal of selling at least 1 lakh cars every year by 2022 will not be possible just by launching new products, it is still setting its sights on certain segments and, in one case, a specific product.

Steffen Knapp, Volkswagen India's new director of passenger cars in India, admits that there is a growing demand for cars which have been developed keeping in mind the mass market segments in India. The Volkswagen Ameo was the stepping stone for VW India in this regard and future products from the company will use a modified MQB platform to underpin regionalised products.

While the current Polo platform will be refreshed to create more products in the near future, Volkswagen - with the help of Skoda - will modify the modular MQB platform for India. The first two products to be based on this platform could be a hatchback and a compact SUV. 

Steffen has specifically mentioned that one product Volkswagen India is keenly looking to target is the Hyundai Creta. Priced from Rs 9-15 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi, the Creta is one of the most popular compact SUVs in the country and Volkswagen can develop a product for this price range more easily than try and compete against the more popular Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza.

While Steffen did mention that the T-Cross (unveiled in a concept form) could be a potential candidate to take on the Creta, Volkswagen India could also develop an India-specific product too. Expect the company to improve its base in India first by expanding the sales and service network and improving the brand perception among mass-market customers first and then move on to launching all-new products. While VW may be late to the party, as the saying goes, it is better than never.