The Taigun is coming is not coming to the Indian market. In an exclusive téte-a-téte with ET Auto, Michael Mayer ( Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars India ) has made it clear that they have scrapped the India plans for Taigun.
The Taigun was present on the rumor list of “Upcoming Cars in India” for a long time. Journos pitted it against the media-darling-of-Compact-SUVs, the Ford EcoSport. Because of its chunky and futuristic looks, the Taigun was a winner. Though there were some hitches about the price, the assured quality from Volkswagen seemed to shrug those hiccups away. The wide-ranging clamour was : How can Volkswagen stay away from such a hot-and-happening segment for long?
It now appears that they will stay out of action in that segment for some more time. In the words of Mr. Mayer himself :
“We see the SUV segment growing. We are looking to bring in a car in this segment, but we’ve not decided yet on the product. Obviously Taigun has been around for a while in other countries. So you won’t see the Taigun but we are looking seriously into compact SUVs.”
He stated that they will not only introduce a Compact SUV, but another mid-size SUV as well. But before launching these products, they will look into the possibility of exporting them from India. This will provide a cushioning effect to Volkswagen India’s coffers, if sales in India take a tumble. However, he made it clear that they will never compromise on quality for the sake of volumes. Hence, Volkswagen’s products will always come with a premium.
Volkswagen India currently doesn’t enjoy as much market share in India as they would want to. Recently, they downsized their market share expectations after taking stock of their performances. They do need a presence in the Compact SUV segment to see higher volumes and revenues.
Source – ET Auto