Volkswagen and Toyota to go slow on new car launches for 2 years

Not enthused by the Indian car market’s response to their existing line of products, major global automakers Volkswagen and Toyota have planned to go slow on new car launches for the next couple of years. In other words, all-new products from Volkswagen and Toyota may arrive into India only from 2016, which is quite a wait from now.

Both Volkswagen and Toyota didn’t showcase any all-new product designed for India at the recently concluded Auto Expo. While Volkswagen displayed the Taigun concept, which is still a couple of years from production, Toyota revealed the Etios Cross and the 2014 Corolla Altis, both of which have already gone on sale in international markets.

With Volkswagen and Toyota not bullish on India in the short term, the focus now shifts to other car makers to launch new products. Homeboys Maruti, Tata and Mahindra have big launch plans for the next 2 years. In the cooling off time that Volkswagen and Toyota have planned for themselves in India, both automakers plan to launch a slew of variants based on their existing products.

The Etios Cross based on the Liva hatchback is one such variant that Toyota has planned for the Indian market. The hatchback will be launched in May 2014 and is likely to be priced about 50,000 rupees higher than the top-end Liva variants. The other major launch from Toyota will be that of the 2014 all-new Corolla Altis. Like the Liva, the Altis will also be launched in May. 

Volkswagen for its part has the Polo and Vento facelifts in the pipeline. Both cars will get cosmetic and mechanical changes. A new, downsized turbo diesel engine is likely to be made available on both the Polo and the Vento Facelifts. The facelifted Polo has already begun doing the testing rounds in India with the Vento to join shortly. Volkswagen is also planning to use the cooling off/consolidation period to improve its after sales service.

Source LiveMint