Volkswagen reduces cost of ownership across its line-up

In welcome news, Volkswagen has announced a new after sales approach to make its cars more desirable, by reducing the cost of ownership. It has announced the reduction of service costs by 24 per cent to 44 percent depending on the model and variant. The free services are now three per year (or up to 15,000km), instead of one free service after six months which was the case till last year. The road side assistance is now up to four years instead of the earlier two years. The warranty is increased to four years.  To maintain transparency, Volkswagen has placed a standard menu pricing across its dealer workshops in India. The menu pricing comprises all the costs that a customer could potentially incur, depending on the service required on the respective model, says Volkswagen.

On Volkswagen taking steps to make the cost of ownership more affordable, Steffen Knapp, director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars said: “Volkswagen is determined towards providing the best of our offerings to the value driven Indian customers. The brand has been taking conscious efforts towards addressing its key requirement of the customer – high maintenance costs. By adopting an India centric approach, there’s been an overall reduction in the total cost of ownership while retaining the same quality, safety and value-for-money proposition that is expected of a Volkswagen. Thus, it gives me immense pride in announcing an affordable ownership experience for the aspirational Indian customer.”

Currently, Volkswagen’s market share in India is just over 1 per cent. In an interview with Steffen Knapp earlier, he said that Volkswagen aims to increase its market share by 3 per cent. By lowering the cost of ownership, extending the RSA, free service and warranty of the Volkswagen cars, the company is definitely on the right track to achieve its target share in India.