VW Beetle: Now Launched

[anuprav 0]

Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen will roll out the Beetle, fondly called the people's car after its maker, on Indian roads by

beginning of next month.

A senior company official told media on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit that Volkswagen, which mean People's car, would import the car from its Mexican plant for sale in Indian markets.

He, however, declined to divulge the possible price of the car.

Beetle is one of the most successful models that the German carmaker has ever produced. The car bucked all trends and has made history, although critics had predicted a complete failure due to its peculiar styling, underpowered motor, rough ride and noisy engine.

Volkswagen, which currently sells luxury sedans Passat and Jetta in Indian market, is planning to launch its small car Polo by early next year.

The group has two facilities in India at Aurangabad and Chakan, which assembles cars of its three brands, Skoda, Audi and Volkswagen.

VW is looking at full-capacity production at this plant by 2012 and in order to strengthen its workforce, it is planning to more than double the India headcount with addition of 1,500 employees at Chakan alone in Maharashtra.

Source: TOI anuprav2009-11-09 10:39:57

[creativebala 178]

already many threads are running for this news

[anjan_c2007 1]

This car should have been in India long back in its hey days. The car is many decades past its prime.After 21 million units were sold, (a record  as no car, not even the Model T Ford has sold as many) the production was shifted from Wolfsburg, Germany to Mexico maybe sometime in 1974. The Golf came by and became a best seller soon in Germany, the western and many other markets.  Brazil also made many Beetle's till it was discontinued there.They were popular as taxis in Brazil too.

Now westerners import it only for nostalgic reasons, if import laws and pollution norms permit.

The rear engine (the car is known to understeer) and its polluting ability, sluggishness while moving may affect the faster cars moving on our roads and the fast traffic these days. The two door configuration is'nt very popular in India.

The plus point is that the car is very, very reliable, economical on maintenance and can be driven in any kind of climatic conditions. Remember, the Beetle was the first car to be driven in Antarctica in the 1960's.

When I had been to Germany in 2001, I could sight only one Beetle on the roads of the 1960's vintage, that was immaculately maintained. Shows that they have almost dissappeared from the roads in their home market as a daily use car as these cannot cope up with the AutoBahn traffic moving  @ nearly 125-150 kmph.

[winner48 0]

it will cost 18 lakh.

I want 2 of them in black and silver.

period.

[creativebala 178]

it will cost 18 lakh.

I want 2 of them in black and silver.

period.

Are you ready with 36 grands + few for fancy no.

[asethi919 0]

18 lacs for that wierd looking bug thing. I'd rather go for something else with a bit more space and a lot morepower. Like a luxury sedan. Ofcourse, I dont have the money for any of them.

[soundar.d.gr8 0]

Today, TOI new paper carried more VW ads than the news. 3 Full page ads. 4 or 5 half page ads and few quater page ads. The ads are in every page except the sports column. Beetle and Touareg are comming to India this December. Can we expect Polo by Jan?

[sarabjeet 3]

@ soundar

check the last page of TOI and second last para , it says about made for india polo that will be manufactured at pune plant

[anjan_c2007 1]

This car should have been in India long back in its hey days. The car is many decades past its prime.After 21 million units were sold' date=' (a record  as no car, not even the Model T Ford has sold as many) the production was shifted from Wolfsburg, Germany to Mexico maybe sometime in 1974. The Golf came by and became a best seller soon in Germany, the western and many other markets.  Brazil also made many Beetle's till it was discontinued there.They were popular as taxis in Brazil too.

Now westerners import it only for nostalgic reasons, if import laws and pollution norms permit.

The rear engine (the car is known to understeer) and its polluting ability, sluggishness while moving may affect the faster cars moving on our roads and the fast traffic these days. The two door configuration is'nt very popular in India.

The plus point is that the car is very, very reliable, economical on maintenance and can be driven in any kind of climatic conditions. Remember, the Beetle was the first car to be driven in Antarctica in the 1960's.

When I had been to Germany in 2001, I could sight only one Beetle on the roads of the 1960's vintage, that was immaculately maintained. Shows that they have almost dissappeared from the roads in their home market as a daily use car as these cannot cope up with the AutoBahn traffic moving  @ nearly 125-150 kmph.

[/quote']

The earlier report that appeared in the press some 3 days ago indicated that it would be the VW Beetle (the old model 1937-2003, though they did not specify). The old Beetle production was stopped in 2003 in the Mexico VW plant. Now its very clear that its going to be the New Beetle here in Dec 2009.And mind you, the press perhaps did not understand this. They were reporting  it as a people's car etc and messing up the news story. The New Beetle is no people's car even in the developed countries. Its slotted a notch above the entry level hatches.

[soundar.d.gr8 0]

@ soundar

check the last page of TOI and second last para ' date=' it says about made for india polo that will be manufactured at pune plant[/quote']Got it, friend. Thanks.

[akj53in 0]

Whatever the cost of that massive advertisement in TOI, VW got what they wanted. The ad delivered the message with a sledge hammer punch and established the brand in ONE DAY. So it was money well spent. I salute the persons who initiated this idea and who authorised the 'Go Ahead'.

Also it was spent better than paying a handsome amount to some good-for-nothing film star. Hindustan Lever is supposed to have paid Aish and Abhishek a mind boggling 25 crores for a Lux TV ad. Does any body even remember the ad. Did any body initiate even a single discussion about that. That was money down the drain.

By this VW has announced their presence and established their size as the largest auto maker in Indian public's mind. It also confirms that VW is here to stay as a serious player. It also informed the public about various new technologies.

Granted some of these technologies are already available in the market, but most of customers buy them without being aware of their function and benefits. Heck even the sales staff does not know about most of the technical stuff. The ad has also increased the technical awareness. I can now imagine asking customers from a Maruti or Tata salesman if their car has DSG box or a TSI engine. Just imagine the replies they would be getting from the sales staff. The number of posts on our thread "Comedy of Errors on India Dealerships" in going to increase suddenly.

Let us stop worrying about the money they have spent. Large MNCs have very deep pockets and this is small change for them. And they will a very very large adv. budget as the real blitz is going to roll out now.

Let us look forward to the customer benefits. As world's 2 largest car makers begin their full fledged Indian assault, more and better competition will mean better products and better services at lower prices. Dealers wil stop making arrogant comments like 'Honda is Honda Saar'. And VW is too experienced a company with too much money at stake so we can also rest our doubts about

not getting proper A.S.S.

Let us all now welcome Volks Wagen.

[bossottoelango 0]

VW Beetle needs to be brought as CKD & assembled here to keep costs around Rs. 8-9 lakh, if they are serious about large numbers.....say 100-250 per month conservatively.....

 

Beetle is more attractive & bold model & we pray VW decides strategically on it.....

 

Quality comes at a premium ...but not at the cost of killing the product itself......

 

Big Spend on Advertisements does not always mean success..... Remember how much Fiat spent for 500 model launch....& sales figures show the results..... September - 2 units sold & October - 1 unit sold......

 

If they are that much serious about India, let they be realistic on the ground realities.......for SURE SUCCESS.....not a secret anymore......

 

they should have a dealership every 100 kilometre on their own (or) may get tied up with people like CARNATION AUTO to cover the whole country widely......

 

[anuprav 0]

Beetle will be costing somewhere around 15-20 lacs.

 

Polo coming in Jan 2010

[sarabjeet 3]

sad only the petrol betel will make it , is there an diesel version of beetal ?

[bluesapphire 1]

Whatever the cost of that massive advertisement in TOI' date=' VW got what they wanted. The ad delivered the message with a sledge hammer punch and established the brand in ONE DAY. So it was money well spent. I salute the persons who initiated this idea and who authorised the 'Go Ahead'.

Also it was spent better than paying a handsome amount to some good-for-nothing film star. Hindustan Lever is supposed to have paid Aish and Abhishek a mind boggling 25 crores for a Lux TV ad. Does any body even remember the ad. Did any body initiate even a single discussion about that. That was money down the drain.

By this VW has announced their presence and established their size as the largest auto maker in Indian public's mind. It also confirms that VW is here to stay as a serious player. It also informed the public about various new technologies.

Granted some of these technologies are already available in the market, but most of customers buy them without being aware of their function and benefits. Heck even the sales staff does not know about most of the technical stuff. The ad has also increased the technical awareness. I can now imagine asking customers from a Maruti or Tata salesman if their car has DSG box or a TSI engine. Just imagine the replies they would be getting from the sales staff. The number of posts on our thread "Comedy of Errors on India Dealerships" in going to increase suddenly.

Let us stop worrying about the money they have spent. Large MNCs have very deep pockets and this is small change for them. And they will a very very large adv. budget as the real blitz is going to roll out now.

Let us look forward to the customer benefits. As world's 2 largest car makers begin their full fledged Indian assault, more and better competition will mean better products and better services at lower prices. Dealers wil stop making arrogant comments like 'Honda is Honda Saar'. And VW is too experienced a company with too much money at stake so we can also rest our doubts about

not getting proper A.S.S.

Let us all now welcome Volks Wagen.[/quote'] Very true Akj, i think many might have settled on VW after this ad from all over India. This just shows and everybody can see that VW now is coming with bang and will target many class of customers from Polo to High-end Toureg and Beetle.

For instance, my father is now considering the VW again after he dropped the idea once. And i just TD'ed it a day back the Ad and was impressed actually even with the old 1.9PD. I love its quality and detailing to even small things, after all its a German Engineering!!!

[winner48 0]

The earlier report that appeared in the press some 3 days ago indicated that it would be the VW Beetle (the old model 1937-2003' date=' though they did not specify). [/quote']

 

how i and pray and wish those reports were true.

[anjan_c2007 1]

The TOI advertisement costs incurred by VW I hear was something like Rs 5.3 crores.

sarabjeet There's no petrol version of the New Beetle to the best of my knowledge.

[anjan_c2007 1]

Sorry sarabjeet there's a diesel , a 1.9 L TDI. This is a 1896 cc TC engine with 90/101/105 PS versions. But its is not known as to whether this will be marketed in India too soon.

Please also see this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_New_Beetle

Picture source wikimedia.

anjan_c20072009-11-12 14:19:34

[anuprav 0]

Beetle is coming in Petrol Version Only. No diesel.  It will be automatic.

[anuprav 0]

The earlier report that appeared in the press some 3 days ago indicated that it would be the VW Beetle (the old model 1937-2003' date=' though they did not specify). [/quote']

 

how i and pray and wish those reports were true.

It will be new model of beetle not the old model as confirmed by the VW dealer

[winner48 0]

@ anuparv

I know it.

I said how i WISH AND PRAY it was the old one.

[-chumi_FXX 0]

Thats good news a VW dealership has jst opened near my home would love to see the cute beetle,abt the ad campaign it was very good & nicely executed.

[Power 0]

[arreddyy 0]

The Company announced that it has already received 160 units of booking before the launch date that will be held in Mumbai on 4th this month.

Volkswagen India is expecting that it will sell around 500 units of Beetle hatch by next year and it is expected to be priced around Rs 20 - 22 lakhs. Volkswagen has already given its full throttle on its advertisement both on papers & commercials that has reached the right audience to avail these many numbers before launch.

[winner48 0]

Did the fiat manage to sell even sixteen 500s?

I mean 160 is a huge number.

finally Beetle beats 500.

i am so happy.