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| Volkswagen starts trial production of Polo |
| 28-04-2009 | http://www.indiacar.net/news/n108210.htm |
Trial production of the Polo at Volkswagen India�s (VWI) Chakan Trial production of the Polo at Volkswagen India�s (VWI) Chakan plant was flagged off today by Dr Philipp Rosler, the Minister of Economics, Labour and Transportation of the German Federal State of Lower Saxony.
The car
, VWI�s first locally made product in the Indian market, will be unveiled at New Delhi�s Auto Expo in January 2010, with commercial production to follow.
Dr Rosler, who was accompanied by a 30-strong delegation of business leaders from the German State, said, �We are interested in the progress of the company which is headquartered in our State. We also hope to improve our partnership with the Indian economy.�
Incidentally, Lower Saxony State holds a 20.1 per cent stake in the parent company Volkswagen AG.
VWI�s Chakan plant has provision to manufacture cars on two independent platforms, one of which will begin commercial production of Group company Skoda�s compact car Fabia by the middle of next month. The Polo will also be produced on this platform.
Since plans are afoot to progressively increase the degree of local content in the Polo, Mr Jorg Mueller, President and Managing Director, VW Group in India, indicated that some suppliers may consider setting up their facilities within the 575-acre complex.
�Discussions with some of our vendors for this are underway,� he said.
The Chakan plant is amongst VW�s few plants worldwide that will conform to the Group�s two-shift theory.
�In Germany most plants work 3-shifts. But this plant will work only two shifts even at peak production,� Dr John Chacko, Technical Managing Director, said, adding that there will be a 2-hour gap between the end of one and the start of the other.
The rationale behind the theory is that workers of one shift finish their work before the others get in, Dr Chacko said. VW�s plant in Russia also conforms to this pattern, so will the one in the US.
The Chakan plant, which has an installed capacity to build 110,000 cars will produce a car every two minutes at maximum production. Time taken for a Polo or Fabia to start at the press shop and end at the final roll out will take around 18 hours. Automation here will be 35 per cent against 98 per cent in Germany, Dr Chacko explained. The current strength of 720 workers will touch 2,500 by the end of 2010.
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