Skoda Volkswagen India exports its 500,000th made-in-India car

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) today exported its 500,000^th car manufactured in India. The milestone vehicle is a white-coloured, left-hand-drive Volkswagen Vento sedan and part of a shipment of 982 cars being shipped to Mexico from the port of Mumbai.

The company has exported over 25,000 cars in the current year, marking a consistent export performance in spite of the challenging demand scenario around the world.  

Commenting on the occasion, Gurpratap Boparai, managing director, SAVWIPL said, “Exports are an integral part of our strategy and achieving 500,000 units is a significant milestone for the company. Cars produced at the Skoda Auto Volkswagen manufacturing sites exemplify high quality standards we pursue globally and in India. The achievement gains more significance as we continue to export vehicles despite the current challenges in the industry on account of Covid-19 disruptions. Over the next years, we will be producing cars based on the new MBQ A0 IN platform with a high degree of localisation and will continue to explore exports markets for the India 2.0 products’

The Skoda Vision IN and the VW Taigun will be the first vehicles to be built on the India-specific MQB A0 IN platform that will also form the basis of a new range of models to come from SAVWIPL. 

Zero to 500,000 in 10 years
SAVWIPL started its exports program in 2010 with 65 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento for the South Africa market. Since then, it has continued to grow incrementally to build the ‘Made-in-India’ presence to 61 countries across South America, Central America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the GCC countries and to the Caribbean region.

The export program enables the company to sustainably manage production volumes with a healthy production share between domestic to export markets to tide over regional volatility of demand protecting the interest of the company as well as its workers. The current year exports account for almost 45% share of production despite the challenging market conditions across the world due to the pandemic.  

The future range of products starting 2021 will reach a higher level of localisation (up to 95%). The four new products developed for the Indian market for Skoda Auto and Volkswagen consisting of SUVs and notchbacks will be evaluated for exports to similar markets requiring robust built and efficient cars. 

On March 17, 2016, Volkswagen India marked five years of its export journey. On July 28, 2017, the carmaker exported its 250,000th made-in-India car to Mexico. 

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