German car maker Volkswagen has reportedly stopped the production of its Passat in India, owing to dwindling demand for the vehicle in the domestic market.
The news of the Volkwagen's Passat going out of the country's auto shelves broke hours after Honda announced the phase out of its Accord in India. Both the companies cited paltry sales as the reason for withdrawing the models from the market. However, it is surprising that the Accord and Passat could not create any vibes in a market like India,where there is growing affinity to marquee models.
Autocar India reported that the in the June-November 2013 period, Volkswagen could sell only 235 units of Passat in the country, whereas the model's opponent Skoda Superb managed to notch a sales figure of 507 units in the same period. According to the report, the high pricing of Passat in the Indian market could have turned the tables on it.The vehicle was priced between ₹26-32 lakh.
On the other hand, absence of diesel powered Accord is said to be the reason for the waning demand for Accord in Indian market. Honda could sell only 11,492 units of Accord in India since its entry into the market in 2008.The vehicle which was offered in 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and 3.5-liter V6 engine options in the country could get just 272 takers in the current fiscal.
Confirming the phase out of Accord in India, Jnaneshwar Sen, senior vice president for marketing and sales at Honda Cars India had told ET: "We have stopped production of the current eighth-generation of Accord in India. It is our flagship brand and we would be looking at the next generation of the sedan for Indian customers, though the exact launch details have not been worked out yet."
