Volkswagen’s budget car around the corner

Volkswagen’s head Martin Winterkorn recently confirmed that his company would start in 2015 production of a new super budget car which will make way to India also. So what will be VW’s new mantra? Ammar Alvi finds out.

According to recent reports, German auto giant Volkswagen is planning to roll out an ultra low-budget small car starting 2015. During an interview, Volkswagen Group Chief Martin Winterkorn confirmed, “We are developing a budget car for the price range between €6,000 and €7,000 (`4.3 lakh and `5.1 lakh). Some three million cars are sold in this segment each year in China alone. We have to adopt new methods. The base development will be carried out in Germany. It will

then be further developed in China with our partner and produced from 2015.”

The biggest challenge will be to keep the car low cost and that is the reason the company has chosen China as the first place of production. With both parts and materials being sourced locally, there is a big possibility that the company might achieve its target. It’s likely that existing Volkswagen technology will be used in the new budget car, further helping to keep costs down.

Currently Volkswagen is focusing on creating the first example of the super-budget car for China, where it would also be built. Production of the new car is expected to begin in 2015 and since India is also slowly becoming a big hub for Volkswagen, don’t be surprised if you find it on Indian roads soon.