Europe’s largest car maker, Volkswagen (VW) has launched its sedan Passat in Bangalore in India. VW signed a partnership agreement with the Bangalore-based PCH group, making it the first authorized dealer for Volkswagen in Bangalore. The launch of Passat was announced thereafter. The sleek sedan is priced at around Rs. 25 lakhs and is aimed at the upper class of the society who can easily afford this car.
There are plans to set up two specialized showrooms for displaying the Volkswagen cars, adhering to international standards and the PCH group is investing around Rs. 50 crores for that. The first showroom should be open by the end of 2008. This showroom will provide the 3S facility to customers - Spares, Sales and Service. The infrastructure would be equipped with state-of-the-art technology. There are also plans in the pipeline for opening a boutique by mid-2008 that will provide varied Volkswagen offerings.
India has been recognized as a key market and that is the reason Volkswagen is launching Passat here. At present, Volkswagen has three major dealers in the three potential metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The company is expecting quite high sales in future. The company has invested a huge amount for building a new production plant in Pune which would be operational by 2009. The company also plans to launch the new Beetle very soon in India and get the Phaeton imported.
