Trump tariffs may open new opportunities for India in long term, believes Skoda Auto Volkswagen

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, which comprises both Skoda and Volkswagen in India, leaving the country operations charges to the Czech automobile brand, believes that tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration would create new opportunities for India in the long term. During the launch of the new Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line SUV at an introductory price of ₹49 lakh (ex-showroom), the automaker has stated that while it doesn't support the new reciprocal tariff imposed by the Trump administration, which has now been paused for 90 days on non-retaliating countries, the move may open up opportunities for the industries in India in the long term.

Speaking to PTI, Piyush Arora, Managing Director at Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, said that the group always believes in free trade and transfer of technology between countries for customers and their benefits. He also said that there is a lot of uncertainty right now hovering around the recent announcements on the tariff front which the US administration has imposed. "Of course, we do not support the (reciprocal) tariffs but at the same time there are a lot of discussions about opening up the economy even in India through bilateral trade or free trade agreements," PTI quoted him saying.

However, Arora added that the recent developments related to tariffs might expedite the free trade agreements between India and the European Union, which has been in discussions for a long time. "I do believe that there are opportunities for India. We have always been a proponent of having lower tariffs between Europe whether it is EU trade or bilateral FTA which has been discussed for a very long time but at the same time might give an opportunity. There might be short-term hiccups because of increased tariffs for our component industry from India which is exporting a good amount of parts to the US and the initial tariffs can hinder that but in the long run maybe it will open up opportunities," Arora added.

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line to play a key role in the OEM's India strategy

Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line, which has been launched as a sporty version of the Volkswagen Tiguan, is expected to play a key role in the German auto major's India product strategy. Built on the MQB EVO platform, the new generation flagship SUV Tiguan R-Line boasts of a new chassis generation and comes with a 2.0-litre TSI EVO engine. It comes equipped with a host of new features such as air-care climatronic (three-zone air-conditioning), park assist plus with park distance control and Inductive charging for 2 smartphones. Speaking on the SUV, Ashish Gupta, Brand Director at Volkswagen India, said that the company entered an exciting phase for the brand in India with the new Tiguan R-Line. "With the launch of the all-new Tiguan R-Line today, we are entering an exciting phase for Volkswagen in India, a phase that embodies the future of premium mobility from Volkswagen," he said.

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