Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, says that its immediate aim is to expand dealership network in India to every nook and corner before launching any new car. It also aims to increase production in the country. This was stated recently by Mr Ulrich Hackenberg, member of the Supervisory Board of Management at Volkswagen AG and technical development, to visiting journalists from India, who were in Switzerland to witness the 81st Geneva Motor Show.

''We have strong brand awareness and that has catapulted into strong sales growth, but still we need to put more cars on Indian roads. Our cars vouch for our global quality that has been appreciated and will pave the way for our future expansion and investments. Volkswagen still has to go a long way to make its true image among 1.2 billion Indians. Our immediate aim is to increase dealership density, especially along the countryside, to take our brand to all corners,'' Mr Hackenberg said. Volkswagen is a comparatively late comer in India but its quality is enabling it to make a dent in the Indian market, one of the fastest growing in the world, which is increasingly becoming more and more competitive. Mr Heckenberg said Volkswagen crafted a well-thought strategy for India, which is the first market in Volkswagen's history to have a sedan (Vento) on its Polo hatchback platform. This is an exception globally for the auto giant and has helped it to notch up top three positions in the slot. He said the company will be launching its new small car 'Volkswagen UP!' globally in September.

However, it could be a slightly expensive for an Indian customer. Thus, it is not far off that Volkswagen will launch a smaller car for the Indian market that suits the needs of the local market.

With its headquarters in Pune, the Volkswagen Group is represented by three brands in India: Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.

The Volkswagen Group is completing 10 years of its Indian journey, which began with the entry of the Skoda brand in 2001, followed by Audi and Volkswagen.

Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity in the domestic market.

Volkswagen Group India, part of Volkswagen AG, is globally represented by nine brands--Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Scania, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) and Volkswagen Passenger Cars. The product range extends from low-consumption small cars to luxury class vehicles and trucks. The Group operates 60 production plants around the world.

The highest volume brand of the Group is Volkswagen, Europe's most successful car brand, which has made successful inroads into the Indian market. Volkswagen presents itself in a variety of segments as a premium manufacturer of high-volume models. As a first step, the Volkswagen brand launched the globally successful Passat in 2007. To expand its portfolio and cater to the mid segment, Volkswagen launched one of the brand's best-selling models, Jetta, in India in July 2008. Both the sedans are being assembled locally. The iconic New Beetle and the high-end Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Touareg were introduced in December 2009. Also available is the high-end automobile Phaeton.

From December 12, 2009, the new Pune plant started rolling out the hatchback Polo, which was awarded 'World Car of the Year 2010'.

Recognising the importance of an extensive network towards scripting a long-term success story, the brands of the Volkswagen Group are setting up dealerships spanning the entire country with Volkswagen, Skoda and Audi having in total around 120 showrooms pan-India