- The milestone vehicle is a white Volkswagen Vento manufactured at the Pune plant and will be exported to Mexico from Mumbai

- The company will be evaluating exports of its India 2.0 cars made on the MQB A0-IN platform in the future

Skoda Auto Volkswagen India (SAVWIPL) has achieved yet another milestone with the export of its 500,000th car manufactured in India. The milestone vehicle is a white Volkswagen Vento (Left Hand Drive), and is part of a shipment of 982 cars being shipped to Mexico from the port of Mumbai. The company has exported over 25,000 cars in the current year.

Commenting on the occasion, Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, SAVWIPL, said, “Exports are an integral part of our strategy and achieving five lakh units is a significant milestone for the company. Cars produced at the Skoda Auto Volkswagen manufacturing sites exemplify high-quality standards we pursue globally and in India. The achievement gains more significance as we continue to export vehicles despite the current challenges in the industry on account of COVID-19 disruptions. Over the next years, we will be producing cars based on the new MBQ A0 IN platform with a high degree of localisation and will continue to explore export markets for the India 2.0 products.’

The company started its exports program in 2010 with 65 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento for the South African market, and since then, it has continued to grow incrementally to build the ‘Made in India’ presence to 61 countries across South America, Central America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the GCC countries, and to the Caribbean region. The export program aids the company to manage production volumes with a healthy production share between domestic to export markets to tide over regional volatility of demand protecting the interest of the company as well as its workers. The current year exports account for almost 45 per cent share of production.

The future range of products starting in 2021 will reach a higher level of localisation (up to 95 per cent). The four new products developed for the Indian Market by Skoda Auto and Volkswagen will consist of SUVs and notchbacks, and will be evaluated for exports to similar markets.