Betting heavily on sport utility vehicles (SUVs) as its future growth engine, German carmaker Volkswagen India has launched the new T-Roc, a compact SUV in India, at an introductory price of ₹19.99 lakh (ex-showroom all India).
This is the second SUV launched by the firm in less than two weeks. On March 6, it had rolled out the seven-seater New Tiguan Allspace at a starting price of more than ₹33 lakh. During Auto Expo, the company had announced it would introduce four SUVs in two years.
Out of the other two vehicles, the first made-in-India compact SUV Taigun will be launched in mid-2021 and the other subsequently. Volkswagen’s names all its SUV starting with the letter T.
The T-Roc, to be imported from Germany, will be delivered to customers from mid-April, 2020 and the company said it has received a ‘phenomenal’ response from customers, especially women who have liked the design, the features and colour of the vehicle.
The SUV provides performance, comfort, rationality and appeal to the urban lifestyle of an Indian customer, the company said. It is built on Volkswagen’s modular transverse matrix (MQB) platform and has been received exceeding well in the international market, company executives said.
Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, said launching so many SUVs was a part of the company’s strategy to be known as the most appealing premium brand in India. He said the company had set a target to achieve 3% market share in India in five years and by then, it will have an annual volume of 1,20,000 units.
He said currently, 42% of all vehicles sold globally by Volkswagen were SUVs and this ratio was on the rise. In India, the company hoped that 60% of its vol umes would come from SUVs.
As a prelude to BS VI roll-out, the company had phased out Ameo which was solely developed in India for the Indian market a few years ago. It had also stopped the diesel versions of Polo and Vento.
