BWI: Volkswagen India 1st Anniversary Celebration was a major Highlight for Volkswagen Employees

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Volkswagen
Thursday, April 01, 2010 06:32 PM IST (01:02 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Lifestyle, Social issues; Business: Heavy industries, Transport engineering; Automotive
--------------------------------------------------
Volkswagen India 1st Anniversary Celebration was a major Highlight for Volkswagen Employees


Pune, Maharashtra, India, Thursday, April 01, 2010 -- (Business Wire India) -- Volkswagen India concluded the celebration on the occasion of first successful year of the completion of its Chakan plant by a dinner party for all Volkswagen India employees.

Mr. Joerg Mueller, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India, President and Managing Director, Volkswagen India Private Limited said, "March 31, 2009 is a landmark for Volkswagen India Family and since then the journey has been very bright, promising and fruitful. The most significant milestones were the roll out of the first Skoda Fabia followed by the start of production of the Volkswagen Polo at the day of our first Family Day of Volkswagen India, and the roll out of the 11.111.111th Polo ever build on the occasion of the visit of the German Federal President. All in a year and it speaks for itself how passionate and motivated we all have been to achieve such promising challenges."

"Volkswagen is known world over for the benchmark it has created for the quality of cars produced. We at Volkswagen India are proud to continue the same legacy by focusing not only on volumes but, also maintaining the same level of workmanship and the impeccable standard of quality which is envied globally." Mr. Mueller further added.

For Volkswagen, the new production facility is a major stepping stone towards achieving its ambitious growth targets in the Indian subcontinent. The Pune plant covers all stages in the production process from press shop through body shop and paint shop to final assembly. It has a maximum annual capacity of 110,000 vehicles. In addition to the Volkswagen Polo, the Pune plant also builds the Skoda Fabia.

With a total financial commitment amounting to Rs 3,800 crores (580 million Euros), the Volkswagen plant in Pune is the largest investment to date by a German company in India. Volkswagen plans to employ some 2,500 people locally by the end of 2010.

Plant Chronicles:

November 2006 -- MOU between Volkswagen and the Government of Maharashtra.

April 2007 -- Work on the construction of the plant starts with levelling.

December 2007 -- Paint shop, Body shop, Assembly & Logistic departments are constructed.

November 2008 -- First trial run of Body shop and Assembly. This month marks the 1st ready car to be manufactured at this state-of-the-art facility.

January 2009 -- First trial run of Paint shop where the 1st painted body of the car is produced.

March 2009 -- Plant Inauguration by His Excellency Shri S. C. Jamir, Hon'ble Governor of Maharashtra in the presence of the Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of Board of Volkswagen AG with responsibility of 'Group Production'.

April 2009 -- Volkswagen India started the pre-series production of its most anticipated mid-segment model, the new Polo at its Pune plant.

May 2009 -- Start of Production of Skoda Fabia.

November 2009 -- A state-of-the art Communication Centre designed in-line with Volkswagen Group's international facilities inaugurated in the Plant premises.

December 2009 -- Start of production of Volkswagen India's first made-in-India car- the Polo from its plant in Chakan, Pune in the presence of Hon'ble Maharashtra CM, Shri Ashok Chavan and Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of Board of Volkswagen AG with responsibility of 'Group Production'.

February 2010 -- Visit of the German President, Prof. Dr. Horst Koehler to the Plant on his first state visit to India. He was given a warm welcome by Prof. Dr. Jochem Heizmann, Member of Board of Volkswagen AG with responsibility of 'Group Production'. President Koehler rolled-out the 11,111,111th globally produced Polo from the plant to mark the occasion. The Polo has been in production since 1975 and is available in India in its fifth generation version.

About Volkswagen Group India.

With its headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra, the Volkswagen Group is represented by three brands in India: Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda. The Volkswagen Group is completing 10 years of its India journey which began with the entry of the Skoda brand in 2001, Audi brand and Volkswagen brand in 2007. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity in the market. With 17 models in India and 120 dealerships, Volkswagen Group India is all set to capture the Indian market with the inauguration of the Pune plant which has an investment of Rs 3, 800 crore (580 million Euros) and a production capacity of 110,000 cars annually. In the period between January 2009 and December 2009, Volkswagen Group has sold around 19,000 vehicles in India. Volkswagen India Group is a part of Volkswagen AG, which is globally represented by 9 brands- Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) and Volkswagen Passenger Cars.



CONTACT DETAILS
Pradnya Joshi Chaudhury, Volkswagen Group India, + 91-9764999349, pradnya.chaudhury@volkswagen.co.in
Megha Tripathi, 20:20 Media, 91-9899186411, megha@2020india.com
David Vaz, 20:20 Media, +91-9322652611, david@2020india.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, LIFESTYLE, SOCIAL, HEAVY INDUSTRIES, TRANSPORT, AUTOMOTIVE

If you wish to change your Business Wire India selection please click on this link http://www.businesswireindia.com/media/news.asp and use your personal username and password to login.

Submit your press release at http://www.businesswireindia.com