Volkswagen to Bring its R&D Centre to India

The German car maker, Volkswagen, is planning to bring its global research and development centre to India. The centre will be set up in Pune and will eventually produce vehicles for global market. “India has a good resource of engineering talent. We will build up our technical centre at Pune. After sometime, may be in 5-6 years time, we may have global car developed in India,” Volkswagen Executive Vice-President and Member of Board Ulrich Hackenberg said at the Paris Auto Show here.

Other Car majors like Honda and Suzuki already have their research and development centres established in India. Apart from bringing its research and development centre to India, Volkswagen also plans to launch its commercial vehicles in the country. We, as a big automobile company, constantly keep evaluating possibilities. Emerging markets, including India, are key to our expansion programme not only in cars but also in commercial vehicles,” Volkswagen Group Chairman Martin Winterkorn said.

Volkswagen is currently studying the feasibility of launching commercial vehicles in India so that it can launch its LCV models in the country. It is investing 560 million Euros to set up a manufacturing unit in Chakan, near Pune. It is already bringing its compact sedan, VW Polo to India, next year. On one hand it will launch its small car Up! In India next year while on the other hand, it has its luxury model, Beetle, lined up for Indian launch as well.