Volkswagen T-Roc and Tiguan Allspace Local Assembly On The Cards?

With the commencement of local assembly, prices of the both SUV should go down

• VW will consider local assembly of the T-ROC and Tiguan Allspace based on their sales performance. 

• The two SUVs are sold in just a single, fully-loaded variant powered by a petrol engine.

• Both the SUVs were launched in March 2020 and brought in as a CBU (completely built-up unit).

Volkswagen India has already launched two new products this year, the T-Roc (Rs 19.99 lakh) and the Tiguan Allspace (Rs 33.12 lakh). The slightly higher prices are thanks to them being imported to India as a CBU (completely built-up unit). However, the manufacturer is considering local manufacturing of the product, which could lead to a drop in their ex-showroom price. 

The local manufacturing will only be undertaken after the brand has scrutinized the sales figures of both the models. So far, VW has cleared out 50 per cent of Tiguan Allspace models and exhausted the first shipment of the T-Roc. That’s quite a feat as both the SUVs were launched in the month of March, which saw a lockdown in its latter half. 

Steffen Knapp, Director, Volkswagen India, said, "The idea obviously is to manufacture locally if the vehicle (T-Roc) is a success in India. It seems to be from what we see at the moment as in we see a lot of pull. One opportunity is importing parts and components and assembling it, I don't think we'll fully build the unit in India (as in assembling it completely in India) like the Taigun which will be a local assembly. But local manufacturing in our Aurangabad plant is interesting for us to look at."

For reference, let’s take the case of Lexus ES 500h that recently entered local manufacturing. Its prices dropped by a massive Rs 8 lakh thanks to the lower taxes that a made-in-India product attracts. Given that the two VWs are not as expensive as the Lexus and their brand is considering local assembly (through completely knocked down kits), their price drop might not be as significant. 

Both VW SUVs are available in a single, fully-loaded variant and a petrol engine option. The T-Roc is equipped with a 1.5-litre unit (150PS/250Nm) while the Tiguan Allspace gets a 2.0-litre TSI engine that delivers 190PS/320Nm. A 7-speed DSG is available as standard.  

The VW T-Roc rivals the Jeep Compass and upcoming Skoda Karoq whereas the Tiguan Allspace squares off against the Skoda Kodiaq, the Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner.

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