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Sleek show: The Volkswagen Group had as many as 12 premieres at Paris, including the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport (seen in picture) and the new Lamborghini Estoque,a four-door saloon concept from the legendary sports car maker. — S. Muralidhar

S.Muralidhar

Paris, Oct. 2 The Volkswagen group is studying the possibility of launching its commercial vehicles in India.

A feasibility study being conducted for the purpose is expected to be completed by the end of this year and a decision will be taken after that, senior company officials said.

As in the case of its passenger car venture, the German automobile giant is likely to go it alone in the Indian commercial vehicles market too, if the study comes up with a favourable result.

Volkswagen’s plant at Chakan, near Pune, is being readied for a possible rollout of its first cars by the middle of next year.

The first vehicle to roll out of the assembly line there could well be the Fabia, the small car from group company Skoda Auto.

Volkswagen, which is on schedule to launch a new small car, specifically developed for the Indian market on the Polo platform, is also likely to get busy in developing its dealership and service network.

Currently, Volkswagen India has a set of eight dealerships, which will be expanded in an exponential manner in the next two years to cover most of the Tier I and Tier II cities, said Mr Ulrich Proske, Executive Director, Finance, and CFO.

With high local content as its target, the company is also looking to source engine components and other parts from suppliers in India, though initially there is be no attempt at exporting sourced parts, according to company officials.

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