This achievement underscores the Virtus' dominance in the premium sedan segment, thanks to its dynamic performance, advanced safety features, and robust build quality. Volkswagen’s India 2.0 models, including the Virtus and Taigun, collectively surpassed 1 lakh domestic sales, contributing to the brand’s total of 6.5 lakh units sold in India.

Speaking about the milestone achievement, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, said, “We are immensely grateful to all our customers for making the Volkswagen Virtus India’s No.1 selling premium sedan. The
Virtus continues to resonate strongly with our customers, and crossing the 50,000 sales mark is a testament to the product's success in the Indian market, making it India’s most loved premium sedan. Ever since its launch, we have sold nearly 60 Virtus sedans every day, and we are glad that Virtus has carved its own cult following, as it continues to sustain the sales momentum, despite headwinds in its segment.”

Also read: Volkswagen Integrates ChatGPT into New Models

In other news, Volkswagen has officially halted production of its iconic Polo model in Europe after a successful 40-year run. First launched in 1984 at the brand’s Spain facility, the Polo became one of Europe’s top-selling cars, with over 8.4 million units produced to date.

Since their introduction to the Indian market, over one lakh families have chosen the Taigun and Virtus for their exceptional safety and performance. Both models boast a 5-star GNCAP rating, ensuring superior protection for both adult and child occupants.

Also Read: New VW Tiguan Earns 5-Star Euro NCAP Safety Rating

The Volkswagen Taigun, which accounts for over 61% of the sales milestone of 100,000 India 2.0 cars, remains a popular choice for its blend of safety and style. Meanwhile, the Virtus has solidified its position as a premium mid-size sedan. Notably, around 40% of customers have opted for the coveted GT variants of both models, highlighting the brand's focus on performance.

Ashish Gupta, Brand Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, expressed pride in this achievement, stating, "We take great pride in announcing our portfolio of India 2.0 cars offering 6 airbags as standard across the line-up. With this, not only are we showcasing our commitment towards safer mobility but also reaffirming our core belief of safety being a key product pillar for Volkswagen India. We are also delighted to have achieved the over 1 lakh sales milestone by the Taigun and Virtus. We are grateful to our customers and will continue to offer aspirational, premium, and competitive product offerings for the market."

These included, 5-star rated GNCAP Volkswagen Virtus and Volkswagen Taigun, and the globally acclaimed Volkswagen Tiguan, each showcasing the brand's signature German engineering, unparalleled driving experience and utmost commitment to safety.

In addition to the new car mega delivery, the brand also delivered 50 carefully-selected, pre-owned cars under its Das WeltAuto (DWA) business to customers.

Under the Monsoon Campaign initiative, customers can avail a complimentary 40-point check-up by trained professionals that examines the vehicle for any existing or possible maintenance and repair services to avoid any potential breakdowns and ensure a smooth, comfortable drive experience.

As part of its ‘Accessible Service’ strategy, the Brand has worked relentlessly on providing a holistic service experience that offers reduced cost of ownership and peace of mind to its customers. Through the campaign, Volkswagen Brand offers attractive offers on its loyalty products like Extended Warranty (EW), Service Value Package (SVP) and on select Value-Added Services (VAS) that provide an affordable ownership experience.

In addition to offering a breadth of attractive service and car care packages, Volkswagen is also making it convenient for consumers to avail of them by offering doorstep service through Volkswagen Assistance and Mobile Service Unit that covers 90 percent of the geography. Furthermore, customers can also book a service appointment or purchase loyalty products via the Volkswagen India website.

With this feat, the Volkswagen Virtus and Skoda Slavia have set a new benchmark in the sedan segment in India. The achievement follows shortly after the Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun received a similar 5-star safety rating in October 2022, making them the first India-made SUVs to do so.

Global NCAP revised its crash test protocols to evaluate the frontal and side impact protection of all tested models. Vehicles that receive the highest star ratings are also required to undergo assessments for Electronic Stability Control (ESC), pedestrian protection, and side impact pole protection.

In their most basic safety specification, with ESC included as standard, both the Škoda Slavia and Volkswagen Virtus demonstrated a robust structure in the frontal impact and provided adequate to excellent protection for adult occupants, with marginal to excellent protection in the side impact scenarios.

Moreover, child occupants received full protection during both front and side impacts, further highlighting the high safety standards maintained by Global NCAP.

Having received phenomenal response for the two products, the Brand has further increased its value proposition and accessibility by offering ‘Auto Headlights’, ‘Auto Coming/Leaving Home lights’ on the Highline variant of the 1.0l TSI Dynamic Line and the GT variant of the 1.5l TSI Performance Line of the Volkswagen Taigun.

Additionally, the Volkswagen Virtus now offers rear fog lamps across its variants, a safety feature that enhances the visibility of the vehicle on the road. Along with these new feature additions, all MY23 (model year 23) variants on the Taigun and Virtus carlines are RDE and E20 norms-compliant.

The updated versions of both the carlines will be available across the Volkswagen India network which comprises 159 sales touchpoints in 118 cities. In addition, all MY23 (model year 23) variants on these carlines are RDE and E20 norms-compliant. Pursuant to these developments and rising input costs, the Brand also announces a price hike of up to 2% across its product portfolio effective 1 April 2023.

Volkswagen Kota will showcase the Brands’ young and fresh product portfolio through a 4-car display – Taigun, 11 awards winner in the premium mid-size sedan segment, the Virtus & the global best-seller Tiguan. The product portfolio stands true to its Brand legacy offering superior build quality, German-engineering, class leading safety features and a fun-to-drive experience.

Along with the impeccable product offerings, Volkswagen India offers a peace of mind ownership experiences to its customers in Kota. Through a 6-service bay, the highly skilled and trained manpower is capable of handling all the service requirements of customers.

With the introduction of Volkswagen sales and service touchpoints in Bhubaneshwar, the Brand presents its world-class German-engineered products and services for aspirational Indian customers. The 6-car display area in the showroom will host India’s safest SUVW – the Taigun, striking & exhilarating Virtus and the global best-seller by Volkswagen, the Tiguan. The 2S facility provides a range of after-sales service through its expansive 19-bay workshop that is operated by skilled and trained technicians.

Speaking on the inauguration of Volkswagen Bhubaneshwar, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “We are elated to inaugurate a new sales and service touchpoint in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. With the inauguration, we are introducing our young German-engineered product portfolio, enabling our aspirational customers to choose from a safe, fun-to-drive and strong built mobility solutions. With this touchpoint, we are committed towards offering world-class German-engineered products & services and an outstanding experience to our customers in this region.”

Commenting on the inauguration of the new dealership Mr. Charchit Mishra, Director, OSL Group & Dealer Partner, Volkswagen Bhubaneshwar, said, “We are extremely delighted to partner with Volkswagen India in the State of Odisha. With the inauguration of this new facility, we intend to make the brand more accessible by offering globally renowned Volkswagen products and customer experience in Bhubaneshwar.”

With the inauguration of Volkswagen Bhubaneshwar, the network strength increases to 159 sales and 126 service touchpoints present across 119 cities in India.

With the addition of two new touchpoints in Kolkata, Volkswagen presents its young and fresh product portfolio – India’s safest SUVW, the Taigun, striking & exhilarating Virtus and the global best-seller, Volkswagen Tiguan. The product portfolio stands true to its Brand legacy and German-engineering prowess offering superior build quality, safety and fun-to-drive experience.

Commenting at the inauguration of the new facility, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “We are witnessing an influx in demand for our newly introduced products, the Volkswagen Taigun, Virtus & Tiguan in the state of West Bengal and East India. In an endeavor to be accessible and offer world-class German-engineered products and services, we have expanded our network presence in order to meet the requirements of our aspirational Indian customers.”

Commenting on the inauguration of the new dealership Mr. Rajiv Sanghvi, Managing Director, PPS Group said, “We have a long-standing partnership with Volkswagen India, catering to the Brands’ customers in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. We are extremely delighted to have extended our network to the state of West Bengal, with the inauguration of two new touchpoints in Kolkata. We look forward towards delivering the best of Volkswagen experience to the customers in this region.”

Along with the impeccable product offerings, Volkswagen offers peace of mind ownership experiences to its customers in Kolkata. The three service touchpoints cater to the service and maintenance requirements of our esteemed customers, managed by highly skilled and trained technicians.

With the introduction of Volkswagen Nagpur, the Brand presents an array of its world-class, German-engineered products and services for the aspirational Indian customers in the city. The 5-car display area in the showroom will showcase India’s safest SUVW, the Taigun, striking & exhilarating Virtus and the global best-seller, Volkswagen Tiguan.

Along with the impeccable product offerings, Volkswagen Nagpur will also cater to the service requirements of our esteemed customers. The 18-bay workshop will be manned by highly skilled and trained technicians. Customers situated at a distance from the service shop can avail the door-to-door service initiative – Volkswagen Assistance.

Commenting at the inauguration of the new facility, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “We, at Volkswagen India aim to enhance our presence across the country, owing to the overwhelming response to our young and fresh product portfolio comprising of the Taigun, Virtus and Tiguan. With the introduction of Volkswagen Nagpur, we further strengthen our presence in Maharashtra and bring world-class German engineered products and services for our existing and prospective customers in the region.

Commenting on the inauguration of the new dealership Mr. Siddharth Vaid, Dealer Partner, Volkswagen Nagpur, said, “Our aspirational and premium customers in Nagpur have an increased focus towards safety and sturdy build quality while purchasing a car. To meet our customer requirements, Volkswagen India is our preferred partner as it offers German-engineered products that have a strong build quality, safety and fun-to-drive experience. With the inauguration of this new facility in Nagpur, we are confident of offering premium mobility solutions and an integrated experience to our customers.”

With the inauguration of the new 3S (sales, service & spares) facility, customers can now avail an integrated Brand experience of sales & service housed under one roof.

The facility comprises a 5-car display area that showcases the bold & dynamic Taigun, the striking & exhilarating Virtus and the global best-seller by Volkswagen, the Tiguan.

Along with a 13-bay service area and a body & paint shop that will cater to the service and maintenance requirements of the customers through skilled and trained technicians. Customers situated at a distance from the service shop can avail the door-to-door service initiative – Volkswagen Assistance and Mobile Service Unit.

In Delhi NCR, the Volkswagen brand has a total of 9 sales and 8 service facilities across the region. With this, the total network strength of Volkswagen in India stands at 153 sales and 121 service touchpoints across 115 cities.

With the introduction of Volkswagen's sales and service touchpoint in Jammu, the brand presents its world-class German-engineered products and services to aspirational Indian customers. The 6 car display area in the showroom will host the bold & dynamic Taigun, the striking & exhilarating Virtus and the global best-seller by Volkswagen, the Tiguan.

Along with the impeccable product offerings, the Volkswagen Jammu service touchpoint will also cater to the service requirements of the region managed by skilled and trained technicians. The 6-bay workshop and body shop will cater to the repair, spares and maintenance requirements, offering peace of mind and ownership experience.

With the inauguration of Volkswagen Jammu, the network strength increases to 153 sales and 121 service touchpoints present across 115 cities in India. For more details, prospective and existing customers can visit the showroom or the Volkswagen India website.

VW India will increase the prices by up to 2% across its entire product portfolio. The revised prices will be effective from 1 Oct 2022. The German auto maker has said that it has taken this step due to the rising input costs.

In other news, VW India has started exporting the Made-in-India Virtus. The first shipment of 3000 cars has being recently sent to Mexico from the port of Mumbai.

With this move, the Group marks another significant milestone in its INDIA 2.0 journey as the Virtus joins the Volkswagen Taigun, which was the first in a range of vehicles built on the MQB-A0-IN platform, to be exported from India.

With this move, the Group marks another significant milestone in its INDIA 2.0 journey as the Virtus joins the Volkswagen Taigun, which was the first in a range of vehicles built on the MQB-A0-IN platform, to be exported from India.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr Piyush Arora, Managing Director of ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India said:

We are marching aggressively on our path to growth, and the ramp-up of our exports is another significant stride in this direction. With this move, we are closer to realising our aim of making India an export hub for the VW Group globally, which is a significant pillar of our India strategy. The growth in our export numbers testifies to the success of the INDIA 2.0 programme. It also showcases India’s engineering expertise on a global stage. As a true Volkswagen, the Virtus embodies the same quality standards we adhere to globally, and we are delighted it will be driven in other countries soon. With this announcement, we have further strengthened our commitment to offering next-generation vehicles to and from India.

SAVWIPL launched its export programme in 2011 with 6,256 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento for the South African market. Since then, the company’s export market has continued to grow incrementally, broadening the Group’s ‘Made in India’ presence to 44 countries across South America, Central America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the GCC countries, and the Caribbean region. By June 2022, the Group had exported over 550,000 cars, with Mexico being the largest export market for SAVWIPL followed by South Africa and Central American countries (Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina), and ASEAN countries.

As the female car buyer customer base grows rapidly in India, the VW India all-women city store is an initiative to provide an exclusive and confident environment for women customers, as well as a dedicated space for them to start their car-ownership journey.

The initiative also aims to encourage more women professionals to join and excel in the car retail industry. In partnership with Ramani Cars Pvt. Ltd., the All Women City Store initiative focuses on upskilling women employees to more leadership roles and setting new benchmarks in customer experience within the market.

The facility operated by Ramani Cars Pvt. Ltd. comprises of 35+ women who will be managing the end-to-end operations right from sales, after-sales, test drive management, customer care services, housekeeping, security and more. It is located at Sri Hari Building, Nava India, Avinashi Rd, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641006.

Sharing his thoughts on the achievement, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “The Volkswagen Virtus is a strong product offering in the premium midsize sedan segment in India with its ‘Big by’ design and features. The acceptance and admiration given by our customers to the Virtus is overwhelming and we look forward to delighting many more customers with our best-in-class products and services.”

The VW Virtus in a short span has achieved two records, it created its first national record at the India Book of Records from Kerala along with achieving its global recognition at the Asia Book of Records from Gujarat by being the only sedan to be delivered to maximum customers in a day.

The VW Virtus is available across 152 sales touchpoints in India at an introductory price of INR 11.21 lakh (ex-showroom). Recently, the Volkswagen brand also announced the introduction of the Virtus under its Omni-channel mobility solutions. The Virtus is now available under the Volkswagen Subscription and Power Lease that enables customers to choose from their preferred ownership models that are convenient and hassle-free.

The VW Virtus is offered under the Dynamic and Performance Line that is powered by the globally acclaimed TSI technology by Volkswagen. The Performance Line is equipped with the 1.5l TSI EVO engine with Active Cylinder Technology (ACT) mated to a 7-speed DSG transmission, delivering peak power of 110 kW (150PS) from 5000 to 6000 rpm range and peak torque of 250Nm at 1600 to 3500 rpm. The 1.0l TSI engine on the Dynamic Line is mated to a 6-speed manual and 6-speed automatic torque converter transmission, delivering 85kW (115PS) power ranging from 5000 to 5500 rpm and 178 Nm of torque at 1750 to 4500 rpm.

With the significant increase in the need for safe and affordable personal mobility options across markets, there is a growing demand for dynamic ownership models. Buyers are looking for alternative ways and flexible solutions that enable them to acquire a vehicle at affordable rates basis their usage. The Omni-channel mobility solutions are a great opportunity for potential customers which includes first-time buyers, corporates, and entrepreneurs who would like to own aspirational German-engineered products through the subscription ownership model.

VW Virtus Subscription

Through the Subscription Model, customers can drive home the Volkswagen Virtus with only one month of security deposit and an advance rental payment. It offers customers, a dynamic and flexible ownership experience with a tenure ranging from 2 to 4 years. Further, this ownership model covers term insurance, scheduled service, and unscheduled repairs ensuring comfort and affordability for customers. The subscription model allows an easy exit option with no resale risk with options of returning the car post usage or an upgrade at the end of the term. An all-inclusive easy monthly Subscription rental of the newly launched Virtus starts from as low as INR 26,987 (ex-showroom Ahmedabad).

VW Virtus Lease

As a part of Power Lease, similar to the Subscription model the customer can easily own the new Volkswagen Virtus with one month’s security deposit and an advance rental with flexible tenure options ranging from 2 to 4 years having no mileage cap. However, the additional benefit under Power Lease is the provision of retaining the car post the tenure completion at just 20% of the ex-showroom price. Offering a great value proposition, the customer also enjoys the benefit of refinancing options available. In addition, the customer can purchase an affordable Service Value Pack and enjoy the car without worrying about recurring insurance renewals. The all-inclusive easy monthly Power Lease rentals of the new Volkswagen Virtus start from INR 29,991 (ex-showroom Ahmedabad).

The Subscription and Power Lease model is offered on the Volkswagen Virtus and Taigun enabling customers with multiple ownership options that best suits their lifestyle.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “The beginning of Onam festivities, marks the onset of the festive season across India. As a brand, it is an absolute honor to be joining the festival celebrations and auspicious occasions of our customers, by delivering happiness and cheer through their newest family member, a Volkswagen. We wish all our customers a happy and safe festive season.”

With Taigun being the most-awarded SUVW, the Tiguan being our global best-seller and the Volkswagen Virtus that has broken records at the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records through the efforts by our dealer partners. The Brand has a long-standing legacy of offering strong, sturdy German-engineered cars that are safe while retaining the fun-to-drive experience.