Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) manages the Indian operations of six Volkswagen Group four-wheeler brands – Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and British super luxury brand, Bentley.German auto major Volkswagen group is targeting 5 per cent market share in the Indian passenger vehicles market before the turn of the decade with alternative fuel technologies slated to play a key role in achieving the target, a senior company official said on Thursday.
The group, which in 2018 announced its India 2.0 strategy led by group brand Skoda had set a target to achieve 5 per cent market share by 2025 but missed it due to events like the COVID-19 pandemic, currently has about 2.5 per cent share in India.
Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) manages the Indian operations of six Volkswagen Group four-wheeler brands – Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and British super luxury brand, Bentley.
“In the last two or three years as we have evaluated, our medium term aspiration is definitely to go to 5 per cent market share. We are little below 2.5 per cent now…and we would definitely need product interventions to reach 5 per cent and that is what we are working on,” Skoda Auto Volkswagen India MD & CEO Piyush Arora told reporters here in an interaction on the sidelines of the unveiling of SUV Volkswagen Taigun.
He was responding to a query on VW Group’s new timeline for the targeted market share of 5 per cent in India, having missed it in 2025.
When asked for the new timeline to achieve the target, Arora said,” I would say that we need more product interventions, and the product interventions going forward will happen both in ICE (internal combustion engines) as well as alternate fuel as well. Our timeline for that is before the turn of the decade, we should have alternate fuel vehicles as well and more product interventions.”
The new products will include EVs, he said, adding as for CNG the company is actively looking at it.
When asked about investment for the next phase of growth in India, Arora said it will be mostly on products but the group has not finalised a fixed number.
On the impact of war in West Asia, Arora said the group companies are working as per the restrictions on gas supplies and so far there has been no impact on production.
Asked about impact on sales growth, Arora said, “Before the West Asia conflict started the industry, and we were also expecting mid single digit growth of 6-7 per cent (for 2026) and the first quarter has grown much faster than that.”
He further said,”If the West Asia conflict would not have taken place, I would have said that maybe we were, or industry was a little less optimistic, we should be more optimistic. (Now) it is difficult at this point in time to say. If the conflict gets resolved sooner than later, we might see a little higher than existing 6-7 per cent growth (for the industry).”
As for the group, he said it is looking to grow faster than the industry in order to gain market share on the back of new products, including the new Taigun SUV.
Commenting on the new Taigun, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India Brand Director Nitin Kohli said the model has been a key pillar of the brand’s India portfolio, having played a significant role in the growth of SUV sales contributing to the brand’s growth.
“The new Taigun builds on this strong foundation with a sharper design and meaningful enhancements across key pillars,” he said, adding the VW brand would continue to march on its journey of “democratising” premium technology and features.
Kohli said the market continues to see buoyancy since the GST 2.0 reforms kicked in last September and the effect is also visible in the first quarter this year.
On VW brand’s sales expectations, he said, “Our numbers have been stable around 40,000 units for the last year, and we continue to work on these numbers and grow with the new model intervention that we have.”
The VW brand would have a “new product action” every quarter, Kohli said, adding the deliveries of the new Taigun will start within this month.
