- Volkswagen Group India announced on Monday that it has obtained regulatory and legal approvals to combine its three passenger car subsidiaries in the country into a single entity known as Skoda Auto Volkswagen India.
- The merged entity, comprising of Volkswagen India, Volkswagen Group Sales India, and Skoda Auto India, will be headed by Gurpratap Boparai, who will take on the role of its Managing Director.
Volkswagen Group India announced on Monday that it has obtained regulatory and legal approvals to combine its three passenger car subsidiaries in the country into a single entity known as Skoda Auto Volkswagen India.
The merged entity, comprising of Volkswagen India, Volkswagen Group Sales India, and Skoda Auto India, will be headed by Gurpratap Boparai, who will take on the role of its Managing Director.
The Pune-headquartered company will run two production plants in Pune and Aurangabad and will have regional offices throughout the country in Mumbai, New Delhi, and other locations.
“Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd’s operational release marks an important milestone in the Indian 2.0 venture,” Bernhard Maier, CEO of Skoda Auto, said in a statement.
“This merger provides one of the main prerequisites for working more closely together at all levels and achieving the long-term goal of the company— gaining significant market shares for Volkswagen and Skoda by 2025,” he said. “We will now continue in a series of quick steps— we will present a clear outlook at the Auto Expo in Delhi for our India 2.0 product portfolio as early as next year,” Maier said.
Commenting on the merger, Boparai said the company is now planning to bring together the team’s technology and management skills in India and realize the real potential in a demanding, competitive environment. “We want to enhance our presence in India further, ensure our employees ‘ professional development and safeguard our dealers ‘ sustainable profitability,” he added.
The merged entity with a strong portfolio of brands— Skoda Auto, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini— is intended to serve market segments and budgets.
“These brands will maintain their unique identities, the network of dealers and continue to implement their own customer experience initiatives,” said Skoda Auto Volkswagen India. We would, however, follow a shared vision and strategy for the subcontinent of India, he said.
In July 2018, as part of the India 2.0 initiative, the Volkswagen Group announced investments of around EUR 1 billion. The company opened a new innovation center in Pune in January this year to build vehicles based on the regional subcompact platform MQB-A0-IN, customized to specific customer requirements.
Skoda Auto Volkswagen India plans to drive in a mid-size SUV model as part of the country’s fresh model launch strategy, which would be sold from both Skoda and Volkswagen sales outlets.
