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for release at 1400 GMT Volkswagen begins test production of Polo small car in India
Apr 27, 2009, 11:09 GMT
New Delhi - Volkswagen has begun test production of its Polo small car in Pune, India at a new plant which will also begin assembling Skoda Fabia cars next month for sale, Volkswagen Group said Monday.
The German company has sped up commissioning of the plant. It said it now expected the Pune site to complete the test runs and be turning out Polo cars for sale by the end of this year. The hatchback Polo from Pune has been specially developed for the Indian market.
Volkswagen says it is investing 580 million euros (770 million dollars) in the site, which may ultimately make up to 110,000 cars per year.
The new plant was ceremonially inaugurated on March 31.
Philipp Roesler, the economics minister in Volkswagen's home state of Lower Saxony, watched Monday as workers completed the first Polo to test the production procedures. To train staff, carmakers usually produce a run of cars not intended for sale.
Volkswagen says it expects to employ about 2,500 people at Pune by the end of next year.
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