Volkswagen may review India plans

Pune: German auto giant Volkswagen AG is reviewing its India plans and has deferred the on-site ceremony at Chakan scheduled for April 4 and also cancelled a supplier meet slated for mid-May.

According to sources, a team from a German event management company, which was in Pune to plan for and organise the May event, received instruction over the weekend that the service would not be required as the programme stood cancelled. It did not offer any fresh dates.

The earlier plan was also to fly in a dozen or so of Volkswagen''s top management team, including members of the board and their wives, for a high profile launch on April 4 morning at the site of the proposed plant followed by a grand banquet at a city hotel later that night for around 150 invitees.

The new chief executive officer of the company, Dr Martin Winterkorn, is said to be re-examining all plans for the company made by his predecessor, Bernd Pischetsrieder, to bring out models suited to the Indian market.

Volkswagen was to set up a facility to manufacture 1,10,000 cars annually at Chakan, and make an investment of Rs2,400 crore.