Volkswagen has made its first delivery of the Polo assembled at its €580m ($789m) Chakan plant near Pune to the Indian dealer network.
The company could distribute up to 35,000 Polos this year by road to its network of more than 40 dealers.
The German carmaker is in the final stages of commercial discussions with a select number of LSPs and completion of the tender process is due at the end of March.
Finished vehicle transport in India is largely based on something of a ‘taxi rank’ system, with trucks parking up outside carmakers’ plants and loading as and when they are needed. VW, amongst other carmakers in the country, is working on a more organised logistics setup, not least because it is planning to move 50,000 vehicles of all brands to its dealer network in India this year.
The Chakan plant was opened in March 2009 and is a major contributor to Volkswagen’s plans for growth in India. It has a maximum annual capacity of 110,000 vehicles and builds the Škoda Fabia alongside the Polo. Volkswagen began building the new hatchback version of the Polo, specially designed for the Indian market, in December last year.
The plant also recently marked the roll-out of the 11,111,111th Polo produced there. VW board member Prof. Dr Joechem Heizmann, responsible for Group Production, welcomed German president Prof. Dr Horst Köhler to the plant for the occasion.
