Skoda & Volkswagen To Merge & Form New Venture: Part Of Their India 2.0 Project

The Volkswagen Group is the second largest automotive group in the world. Its subsidiaries consist of renowned brands like Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche, Ducati, MAN, Scania, Seat, Skoda and of course Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen Passenger cars.

All these companies operate under the Volkswagen Group umbrella. In India though, things were a little different for Volkswagen. Volkswagen's passenger car division got a strong footing in India thanks to Skoda.

Skoda India has been operating in the country since November 2001, and the brand quickly established itself as a reputed, premium car manufacturer. The brand's VRs performance models soon became a favourite among enthusiasts and Skoda was doing quite well in India.

Nearly six years later, Volkswagen entered the Indian market in 2007. Thanks to Skoda's experience in the Indian market, Volkswagen was able to get a strong start. Audi too entered the Indian market only in 2007, while Porsche did the same in 2004. Hence Skoda became the flagbearer for the Volkswagen Group in India.

Now, it seems like Skoda is finally getting due credit as it leads the Volkswagen Group's India 2.0 project. It was a few months ago that Volkswagen Group announced the India 2.0 project. India is one of the largest markets for the German auto conglomerate and it surely isn't taking the Indian market lightly.

The VW India 2.0 project will involve development of products especially for the Indian market, acquisition of more talents in India and increasing the number of products on sale in India while increasing investment too.

Now, a picture from Team-BHP suggests that Skoda India will lead the charge into India 2.0. It was in April 2019 that Volkswagen announced plans to merge its three passenger car entities in India. The merger has now been confirmed.

Volkswagen India Private Limited, Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited and Skoda India Private Limited will be merged to form Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited. The merger aims at combining the technical and managerial expertise of the three companies and to have one board and head over them so that the VW Group in India heads in one direction.

Volkswagen, Skoda, Audi, Porsche And Lamborghini will all continue to have their own individual dealerships and service facilities. The changes of the merger will be felt only at the managerial and developmental levels. This merger marks the start of the VW India 2.0 Project.

Thoughts On Volkswagen & Skoda India Merging For India 2.0 Project

Volkswagen India and Skoda India have given us quite a few premium cars across several segments. Some of them redefined their segments, like the Volkswagen polo did to the hatchback segment and the Skoda Octavia did to the D-segment in India. Now, with both companies coming together, we can expect more such products in the near future.