Volkswagen's Marketing Strategy in India

Introduction

On December 21, 2009, Volkswagen India Private Limited (Volkswagen India), the group company

Of Volkswagen Group India, announced that it aimed to sell 300 units of Beetle, its iconic car, in India in the year 2010. The Beetle was launched in India on December 04, 2009. Raj Savant, Business Head of Auto mark Motors, a Volkswagen dealer in Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India, said, “There are already over 170 advance bookings across India, and we have started delivering the cars as well. Going by the initial euphoria, we expect to sell around 300 Beetles in 2010.”

Volkswagen Group India, the Indian subsidiary of leading automobile manufacturer, Volkswagen AG (Volkswagen), based in Wolfsburg, Germany, had entered the Indian passenger car market in 2001 by launching its car brand – Skoda. In 2007, two of its other brands Audi and Volkswagen, were also launched in India.

Over the years, Volkswagen Group India notonly launched several products, but also ensured that its brands were well known among the Indian consumers. Although, the company had had a presence in the Indian car market since 2001 and the Skoda and Audi branded cars were well known among consumers, the Volkswagen brand was not well recognized in the country. Therefore, in November 2009, the company launched an integrated marketing campaign to build its brand image. It also launched a marketing campaign for its iconic model, the Beetle. Volkswagen India expected that with its brand building exercise, it would be able to increase its sales and capture a significant market share in the Indian car market.

About Volkswagen

The history of Volkswagen (which means ‘people’s car’ in German) can be traced back to the 1930s when Ferdinand Porsche, a reputed automobile engineer and designer, started designing an affordable car for the common man. In 1936, the first prototype of the car, called the KdF-Wagen, was designed in Stuttgart, Germany… Marketing Strategy in India Volkswagen entered the Indian market in 2001 by setting up its Indian subsidiary Volkswagen Group India. As of 2009, Volkswagen Group India had two group companies – Volkswagen India Private Limited (Volkswagen India) and Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited (VGSIPL) Promotion Skoda Auto India and Audi India In 2001, Skoda Auto India launched its first product, the Octavia, in India. The company primarily used the print media whenever it launched a new product. To promote the brand image of the company, it also used print ad campaigns…

The Road Ahead

In November 2009, Audi India announced that it had achieved 59 percent year to date sales growth. In the period between January and November 2009, it sold 1,550 cars as compared to 974 cars in the same period in 2008.