Volkswagen Group to merge subsidiaries

Volkswagen Group’s subsidiaries – Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt. Ltd and Skoda Auto India Pvt. Ltd. – will be merged into one as part of the new India 2.0 Project.

Over the past year, the Volkswagen Group has been going through a lot of structural changes. In June last year, the company revealed their India 2.0 Project. As per this new approach, Skoda would lead the charge for the VW Group in India. Just a few weeks later, VW Group announced that the company will invest € 1 Billion (Rs 8,000 crore) in India for future growth and development of India-specific products. Taking a step further, the German auto giant has now revealed that it intends to merge its three passenger vehicle subsidiaries – Volkswagen India, Volkswagen Group Sales and Skoda Auto India. The Boards of all three companies have given the merger a green light, however, it’s still subject to regulatory and statutory approvals.

All Volkswagen brands – Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda and Volkswagen – will continue to retain their identities. In fact, the dealer network and customer service initiatives will also remain independent. All the brands will work under the leadership of Gurpratap Boparai.

Speaking about the merger, Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Ltd and SKODA AUTO India Private Ltd, commented, ‘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.’

Earlier this year, the firm inaugurated their new Technology Centre in Chakan, Pune, for the development on all the upcoming products and for the localisation of the sub-compact MQB-A0-IN platform that will be base for all future Skoda and VW products.

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