Volkswagen has set a strategy for its play in India after planting its seeds of success. It entered the Indian market with its Jetta [images], and Passat [images] sedans and Touareg [images] SUV and the latest Beetle [images]. Now the company is eyeing on securing a market share of 8-10% in another five years as it has already featured in hatchback segment with its Polo [images]. Another sedan in this Polo platform is in the offing, christened as Vento and is expected to roll down in October this year. VW has already commenced the commercial production of Vento in its Chakan plant and the car will come under premium mid-sized sedan-C segment. This segment is currently dominated by Maruti with its SX4 [images] and Dzire [images] having 36% as Honda City [images] has got 16% market share. The company’s member of the board declared that the company’s motive is to seize a substantial amount of share in this segment. It all depends on the price of the car, feel the industry analysts since VW has not disclosed the price of Vento. Venot will come in both petrol and diesel versions with 4 cylinder 1.6 lit engine delivering 100bhp.
However, the same industry analysts anticipate VW to price it in the range of Rs9 or Rs10 lakhs. To start with , the car will have 65% localization of components which is expected to rise to 80% in another one or two years, he added. The net sale volume of VW in India last year was 3000 units and the target for this year is not specified, but is seen to be a substantial one. VW is fishing in first in the domestic market where lot of prospects are in store. However, an analyst from Fortune Equity Brokers India opined that VW has better to target 3-4 % market share for this Vento during this year. With the launch slated for October there might be possibilities to sell around 7000 units before the end of this fiscal. To make the reach more viable the company is sketching the expansion of distribution network.