Volkswagen mulls Seat cars in India

Volkswagen Auto is dreaming big and better. The car maker which has a market share of about 2.5% in Indian car industry hopes to enhance it to 10%-20% in next four-to-six years. To bring this into effect, the German car maker mulls to bring its Spanish brand-Seat to India. Volkswagen, which already owns Skoda in India, is moving forward to fulfill its ambition of becoming the world’s biggest car maker. Seat is all set to make its entry in China and eyeing Indian market after that. Seat seems to enter emerging markets because the growth rate of the Spanish firm was a mere 2.3%. 

Seat Ibiza hatchback is in the range of the Volkswagen Polo, Seat Exeo saloon falls between the Volkswagen Jetta and Volkswagen Passat and Seat Alhambra MPV can take on the Toyota Innova and the Tata Aria. Even Seat Nuevo Mii is quite similar to Skoda Citigo which in turn is based on VW Up!(Both the cars are not introduced in India yet). All these high-volume models share the same platform, engines and lots of other components, which could result in huge economies of scale. Not just increasing market share but Seat cars in India will drive down costs of production and could enhance economies of scale for parent VW group. 

VW admits that it will be difficult for the Spanish brand to establish a unique identity in the Indian market, especially since there is already an overlap between VW and Skoda products. But, Seat’s distinctive styling and Mediterranean character can find many younger, free-wheeling car enthusiasts. Broken ties with Maruti have dented VW’s immediate progress in the high-volume small car market. However, VW Group is planning to invest an astounding Rs 4.3 lakh crore in the next five years. From new plants to vehicles to R&D centers, Volkswagen Group will invest in all its nine brands including Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Porsche and Seat among others.

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