Reports have emerged that there are proposals being put forward by Volkswagen’s general works division to consider a budget car below the company’s Up! for emerging markets.
Speaking with German news publication Handelsblatt, chairman of Volkswagen’s General Works council Bernd Osterloh is looking for ways in which to boost manufacturing opportunities at the firm’s Wolfsburg plant – one of which could involve the production of a budget car positioned beneath the Up!
"Volkswagen has to open up their efforts to new markets such as South-East Asia or Africa," said Osterloh, “and we need to emerging markets for a cheap car below the VW Up, which costs from 5000 to 10,000 euros (R55 000-R110 000)"
According to Osterloh, such a model could utilize components from other models to bring down production costs and help bring such a model to fruition within two years.
Osterloh is applying pressure to the VW board on the back of a recently failed partnership with Suzuki (in which VW holds a 20 per cent share) to produce budget-friendly passenger vehicles. A project group comprising Osterloh, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn and former head of Opel Han Demant will present a project dubbed “Budget Cars for emerging markets” to the board with in the hope of receiving a cohesive plan from the board by year-end.
A local Volkswagen spokesperson has said that such a matter is still the subject of much speculation within the company’s European arm and can neither confirm nor deny the possibility of such a budget model, or project, seeing the light of day.
Source: Handelsblatt
