The new City hybrid might seem expensive at Rs 21 lakh but offers a hybrid powertrain with excellent efficiency plus more aggressive styling.
koda Auto Volkswagen India aims to capture a 5 per cent share of India's passenger vehicle market by 2030, driven by new product launches, including alternate fuel vehicles, and a potential entry into the high-volume sub-4 metre SUV segment.
The Virtus is indeed designed to look, act and behave like a well-built European sedan that swims in the segment between the compact sedan VW Vento and the larger Passat, says Pavan Lall.
'GST reduction will help larger and high-end cars too.'
Amid a rush of sport utility vehicle sales, Volkswagen is betting on its premium mid-sized sedan - the Virtus - to gain market share in India. The Volkswagen Virtus is the second product under the India 2.0 project being developed on the MQB-A0 IN platform, with up to 95 per cent localisation levels. In February, the company registered an 84 per cent year-on-year growth in sales, primarily driving on the Taigun it launched last year.
The GST Council on Wednesday approved two slabs of 5 per cent and 18 per cent effective from September 22, the first day of Navaratri.
For hatchbacks and sedans, offers range between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000 while SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles carry benefits exceeding Rs 1 lakh.
Compact sedans (Maruti Dzire, Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor)' share in the overall sedan category grew from 68% in 2021 to 74.6% in 2024. Mid-sedans' (Honda City, Maruti Ciaz, Volkswagen Virtus) share declined from 26.2% in 2021 to 20.2%.
German automotive giant Volkswagen (VW) has said it will focus on the premium sedan/sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment and avoid the mass hatchback segment. "Customers don't expect anything less than a premium product from VW. "Customers expect a certain level of quality and driving dynamics. We have to stay true to that DNA. "The day we go mass, customers will reject us," says Ashish Gupta, brand director, VW India.
New York-based investment bank Virtus Global Partners said on Monday the firm is in talks with Indian companies to help them acquire nine US firms mainly in IT, pharma and automotive sectors this year.
In the first half of 2008, Indian companies accounted for a total of 34 US-bound acquisitions worth over $5.1 billion, US-based Virtus Global Partners said in its latest report on US bound acquisition by Indian companies. However, the volume of deals dropped 15 per cent to 34, from 40 in the H1 of 2007. Over 70 per cent of the transactions involved acquisition of 100 per cent stock for cash consideration.
The United States-based Virtusa Corporation, a provider of outsourced software engineering services, will invest $11 million in its Advanced Technology Centre at Hyderabad by March next year.
