Volkswagen upbeat about India plans

Nov 18, 2008, 12:29 GMT

New Delhi - Europe's largest car maker Volkswagen said Tuesday it would go ahead with its investment plans in India and was optimistic that car sales would pick up, news reports said.

Volkswagen had earlier announced it would invest 500 million Euros (about 632 million dollars) for its factory in the southern Indian city of Pune.

'We are ahead of schedule as far as our India plans are concerned,' Volkswagen India president Joerg Mueller was quoted as saying by IANS news agency.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum India Summit in New Delhi, Mueller said the company planned to commission its first manufacturing plant in Pune in 2009, instead of 2010 as scheduled earlier.

'We are not facing any credit crunch and do not plan any layoffs,' Mueller said.

Volkswagen aims to launch new models in India in the first quarter of 2009 for the consumer segment and in 2010 for commercial vehicles, he added.

Car sales in India have declined over the past couple of months and several companies, including Tata Motors, have been scaling down production.

Mueller said Volkswagen had sold 150 units of its mid-segment Jetta through October against the 200-unit target for 2008.