A shiny red Volkswagen Polo GT TSI rolled out of the German car maker’s Chakan facility near Pune and set a new landmark for the manufacturer. It happened to be the 5,00,000th car made at the state-of-the-art production facility. All models produced at the plant stand for German engineering with robust build quality contributed by unique production processes such as laser welding for roof, ultrasonic welding for trim as well as dash and hot stamped A- and B-pillars. Currently, approximately 430 cars per day are being produced in a two-shift system, which provides employment to approximately 3,200 direct and indirect employees.
Since its inauguration in March 2009, Volkswagen’s Pune Plant has produced a total of 500,000 cars which include Volkswagen Polo, Volkswagen Vento, Skoda Rapid and Skoda Fabia (till end of 2013). The cars rolling out of the plant are catering to the Indian domestic market as well as export markets (since 2011). Currently, Volkswagen cars are being exported in both right-hand drive as well as left-hand drive versions to over 32 countries across three continents of Asia, Africa and North America.
Mr. Andreas Lauenroth, Executive Director – Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited commented, “We have successfully achieved a new production milestone. It is a matter of pride for us and it also mirrors the positive customer feedback for the cars produced in our Pune Plant. More than this – each one of the 500,000 cars produced is also an ambassador of the high capabilities of our workforce. I would like to congratulate entire team of Volkswagen India on this historic achievement.”
He further added, “A Volkswagen built anywhere in the world is of the same quality standards – be it in Europe, Asia, America or anywhere else. India is no exception to this and all the cars built by our highly skilled workforce at Pune Plant fulfil all the required quality standards of a Volkswagen. This enables us also to export our Indian built cars to over 32 countries across the globe. We will continue to focus on highest built quality to cater the demand from all our markets – the domestic and the export markets.”