Volkswagen India is celebrating its five-year export success with the shipment of over 1.85 lakh cars from the country. Volkswagen started the export of '"Made in India" cars with South Africa as the first single-export market.
"Volkswagen set up its Indian operations especially for the domestic Indian market and we still continue to focus primarily on our local customers and their demands. However, with fluctuations in the domestic demand and the currency exchange, it became necessary for us to establish a second strong leg of our operations here in India. Since a Volkswagen made anywhere in the world follows the same quality and engineering standards, we were able to impress several export markets and create a demand there with our cars built in India." said Andreas Lauermann, president & managing director, Volkswagen India Private Limited, in a statement.
The first shipment from Volkswagen India reached its destination in South Africa five years ago in 2011, and over the years the company has expanded its reach to over 35 countries across four continents. Volkswagen India exports left-hand drive and right-hand drive Polo and Vento cars. Mexico has been the single largest export market for the company and has shipped over 80 percent of the export volume to this country in 2015. Currently Volkswagen India exports the Volkswagen Polo and Vento to over 32 countries in Asia, Africa and North America.
"The acceptance and rising demand from a variety of markets and consumers from Asia to America stands a testimony to the global standards and state-of-the-art manufacturing that we undertake here at the Pune Plant," added Lauermann.
In August last year, Volkswagen has celebrated the shipment of India-made car number 1 lakh to Mexico. Volkswagen started exporting its India-made cars to Mexico in late 2013.
[1 lakh = 100,000 | 1 crore = 10 million | 100 crore = 1 billion]
