Volkswagen to develop cars for an ageing population

Volkswagen will reveal its new strategy called Future Tracks later this year. Future Tracks will outline the German firm's plans and goals for the year starting 2018 to 2025. Apart from focusing on connected cars, which is said to be the next big thing in the automotive sphere, Volkswagen will also concentrate on building cars for an increasingly ageing population.

The latter approach is in contrast with what Mercedes is trying to achieve making its cars younger not just in design but overall appeal. The new Porsche Macan too is expected to cut the average age of buyers by at least 10 years. Now, an ageing population isn't a concern in a market like India; we do have the youngest demographic in the world.

But, in more developed markets like Europe and China, the average age of a car buyer is only increasing. And with big numbers expected to come from China and a revived Europe in five years time, Volkswagen is clear where it wants to put its money. Besides designing car for an older audience, Volkswagen's other big priority in the Future Tracks strategy will be to develop increasingly more fuel efficient cars.

This increase in fuel efficiency will come from hybrid technology over all else. And majority of these hybrids are expected to be petrol-hybrids. As the emission norms get tougher, the cost of developing Diesel engines with lower CO2 emissions will be exponentially more compared to petrols. Moreover, Audi and Porsche - Volkswagen's premium brands - have made it clear that they are keen on adopting hybrid tech for their cars.

Even Bentley, another of Volkswagen's high-end brand, has shown intent of adopting hybrid tech and it will reveal a concept at the upcoming Auto China show in Beijing showcasing plug-in Hybrid technology. This technology, says Bentley, will be used on its SUV which debuts in 2017. We expect this technology to go mainstream in lesser priced Volkswagens and Skodas as well before the Future Tracks strategy reaches maturation.

According to a report, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn says, the company will set fresh profitability and sales goals as part of the new strategy. The German firm's current plan, which expires in 2018, is to be the number one company in the world, be it sales, customer satisfaction or profitability. And according to Winterkorn, Volkswagen is on the path to do just that as it will reach its goal of selling over 10 million cars this year; four years earlier than estimated.

Volkswagen, as a group, including all its brands was 2.8 lakh units short of the 10 million units mark in 2013.