VW Group To Merge All Car Subsidiaries in India; Skoda To Lead Charge

• The proposed merger will help VW Group use synergies within the brands in a better way.
• Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini to maintain separate identities post merger.
• As announced earlier, Skoda will lead India operation for the VW Group.

German car conglomerate VW Group has announced that it intends to merge all its passenger car entities in India. Its three Indian subsidiaries - Volkswagen India Private Ltd, Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Ltd and Skoda Auto India Private Ltd - will be merged under the new restructuring plan to streamline operations.

According to the carmaker, the merger will help the three companies in making more efficient use of their existing synergies in developing India-specific cars in the future. However it also clarified that all the brands under VW in India will maintain their individual identities, dealer network and customer experience initiatives.

The VW Group sells cars under the Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini brands in the country. The Volkswagen Group has been present in India for the last 18 years and began its Indian journey with the introduction of the Skoda brand in 2001. The Audi and Volkswagen brands were launched in India in 2007, and the Porsche and Lamborghini brands followed in 2012.

VW says the merger has been considered and approved by the boards of the three companies in India and is now subject to the necessary regulatory and statutory approvals. The merger is also in line with the previous announcement of Skoda leading the charging for VW in India under the group
‘S ‘India 2.0’ growth plan.

Therefore, the proposed restructuring will bring all the VW brands in India under the leadership of Gurpratap Boparai, managing director of Volkswagen India and Skoda Auto India. Speaking on the announcement, Boparai said, “India is an important and an attractive growth market for the Volkswagen Group. With the proposed merger, we intend to combine the technical and managerial expertise of the three companies to unlock the Volkswagen Group’s true potential in India’s competitive automotive market. The integration will lead to coordinated and faster decision making and increased efficiency using existing synergies.”

At present, Skoda is working on modifying the MQB-A0 platform for India at its recently opened technology centre in Pune. The new platform will underpin a whole new generation of VW Group cars in the country, starting with a compact SUV from Skoda to take on the Hyundai Creta. Expected to be showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo in pre-production form, the new SUV is expected to go on sale in India in the second half of next year. Volkswagen might also debut its own version of the compact SUV based on MQB A0-IN at the expo, with a launch next year itself.