Volkswagen to open 8-10 used car dealerships by year end!

Volkswagen plans to open 8 – 10 used car dealerships by the end of 2012. Earlier, in January 2012, the company announced its foray into the used car business in India by launching ‘Das Welt Auto’, its used car business arm in India.

Volkswagen will deal with all car brands and when Volkswagen sells, it will be after upgrading the used car and with a warranty. The investment for Das Welt Auto will be borne by Volkswagen dealers who will setup the used car dealerships.

Volkswagen had commenced its operations in India five years ago and has a significant number of its own vehicles selling in the country. Volkswagen has noted that 30% of enquiries obtained in the showrooms are for exchanging vehicles and hence the company is trying to tap the rapidly expanding used car market. Also see: Volkswagen Vento video review

Volkswagen had registered tremendous sales growth in 2011 and continues to register sales growth in 2012 as well. When the auto industry’s overall growth was only 5% in 2011, Volkswagen registered a 140 per cent growth in 2011 vis-à-vis the previous year.

Sales of Volkswagen cars including Polo, Vento, Beetle, Jetta and Passat stood at 78,404 units in 2011. Thanks to the volume models, Polo and Vento which are selling in consistent numbers of about 3,000 units per month and are contributing to the steady growth of the company.

The pre-owned car business in India is fast growing at about 20 per cent every year. Car majors such as Maruti Suzuki (True Value), Hyundai (Hyundai Advantage) and Tata Motors (Assured) and luxury car makers such as BMW (Premium Selection), Mercedes-Benz (Proven exclusivity) are already running their used car firms in India. There are a couple of private players too, such as Mahindra First Choice and Carnation Auto which are fast expanding their sales outlets.

(Source: The Hindu)