With Virtus, Volkswagen aims to double its sales in India this year
Volkswagen is pinning hopes on its Virtus mid-size sedan, which was unveiled on Tuesday, to increase its sales in India by almost double by the end of this year. 2022 Virtus sedan, which is the second car after Taigun SUV from the German carmaker under the India 2.0 project, will be launched in May this year. Virtus will replace Vento from the Volkswagen lineup in India when launched.
Ashish Gupta, Brand Director at Volkswagen India, said the Virtus, along with the Taigun SUV, will be able to propel the carmaker's sales volume to double in 2022. Volkswagen's long-term target in India is to gain at least three percent market share by 2025.
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"In 2022, we are looking to double our volume. Last year, we sold close to 26,000 units, this year looking to sell close to 60,000 units. With the volumes we have planned for this year, we are very close to reaching 2 per cent...so from next onwards we are surely crossing 2 per cent market share," Gupta was quoted by PTI as saying on the sidelines of the unveiling of Virtus on Tuesday.
With Virtus, Volkswagen is eyeing a market share of 12-15 per cent in the mid-sized sedan segment. It will rival the likes of the recently launched Skoda Slavia besides the segment leader Honda City and others like Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Hyundai Verna. Gupta said, "When a new product comes, the segment grows, so we think this segment would grow up to 1.5 lakh cars by the end of this year."
"There are around 4 lakh units being sold each year. The mid-sized sedan segment has grown by 28 per cent last year. So definitely there is interest in the market for such vehicles," Gupta said.
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Volkswagen Taigun SUV too has seen its share of success so far. Gupta said that the carmaker has already delivered more than 12,500 units since its launch in September last year. Gupta also said that Taigun has received more than 20,000 bookings so far.
Besides Taigun, Volkswagen also sells Tiguan SUV and Polo hatchback in India. The carmaker manufactures its cars from its Chakan facility near Pune. It has an annual production capacity of around 2 lakh units.
