No Plans for VW-Branded Budget Car in India

Volkswagen AG tells reporters it has no immediate plans to market a VW-branded minicar in India.

Last month the group’s Skoda brand announced a strategic partnership with India’s Tata Motors Ltd. to develop such a car. VW brand chief Herbert Diess says Skoda is leading the effort because of its superior knowhow in cost control.

Diess says it’s possible a VW-branded variant will eventually emerge from that effort. But he notes the VW marque has more immediate challenges: an internal cost-cutting drive, overcoming brand damage caused by the company’s diesel emission cheating scandal, and the complexities of rolling out VW’s new “MEB” electric-car platform.

VW currently offers two models in India’s so-called “sub-four-meter” market: the Polo hatchback and recently introduced Ameo sedan. Skoda has no entry in that segment after discontinuing the Fabia five-door hatch, a variant of the Polo, in the country last year.