Volkswagen eyes foray in commercial vehicle space

By Shilpa Dhamija & Swati Khandelwal/CNBC-TV18

After Volvo, the latest entrant in the commercial vehicle space will be Volkswagen. With Swedish truck major Scania in its kitty, Volkswagen is gearing up to launch a slew of commercial vehicles in India by the end of this year.

Volkswagen is all set to drive into the commercial vehicles space in India by the end of this year. Its buses will mark the commercial vehicle debut, but the company says other vehicles like trucks and crafters will also hit the roads in a phased manner.

Jochem Heizmann, Management Board Member, Volkswagen, said, “We will start with small buses and crafters at the end of the year. We will import them initially and volumes will decide their manufacturing here, like the T5 buses that carry 7-9 people.”

Volkswagen had earlier acquired Swedish CV major Scania, and the company says Scania's products could also find their way into India.

The commercial vehicle market in India has been seeing a slowdown for past six months. Tata Motors' though bucked that trend in June by reporting a 9% YoY growth in sales of heavy commercial vehicles. But analysts say Volkswagen may well be driving into bumpy roads as rising diesel prices and high interest rates could pose a challenge.