India is a “strategic market” for Volkswagen: Piyush Arora, MD & CEO, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India
Piyush Arora, Managing Director & CEO of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India told ET.
Arora’s statements come amid media reports of a potential equity partnership between the Volkswagen Group with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M).
Several auto companies such as Ford, General Motors, MAN Trucks and two-wheelers such as UM Motorcycles, Harley Davidson have exited India, amid low volumes which made it difficult to sustain operations viably in the country. Ford, which only recently announced plans to restart manufacturing operations at its plant in Chennai for global markets, had pulled the plug on India ops after a possible joint venture with Mahindra fell through. Harley Davidson, meanwhile rebooted India ops through a sales, manufacturing tie-up with Hero MotoCorp.
The Volkswagen Group, which too has been exploring collaborations in the country, said it remains invested in the India story. “There is always an opportunity where you can partner with somebody, but that is always with a very clear focus to further strengthen your position in the market. And I think the approach in India is not going to be different”, Arora said, adding, “How do you finally cater to the Indian customer requirement, whether you do it alone, you do with a partner. So all those opportunities are being evaluated at this point in time.”
Arora, who oversees five brands for the Volkswagen Group — Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini — in the Indian market, said the auto major has invested heavily the last two decades to build manufacturing
