As India pushes for quicker adoption of cleaner vehicles, Volkswagen Group plans to do its part by selling its first electric car, the ID4 SUV, in India starting in 2023. However, the initial batch will be limited to just 2,500 units in accordance with the regulations of the country.
Testing for the ID4 in the country will start in September 2022 to assess technical capabilities and if additional adaptations are required for the local weather conditions, according to Ashish Gupta, Volkswagen’s brand director of their passenger cars division in India.
Once all the requirements have been met, the carmaker will begin to import the aforementioned 2,500 units as Indian regulations only allow that amount without homologation in the country, as mentioned in a report by Automotive News Europe.
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Nonetheless, the carmaker also acknowledges that the availability of its electric SUV might be limited due to the global supply chain constraints.
Moving forward, Volkswagen is expecting to build on that by starting local assembly of electric vehicles in India between 2025 or 2027. Furthermore, the carmaker will also consider producing its own batteries in India as well.
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As the world’s fourth-largest automobile market, it’s unsurprising that India is experiencing a gush of interest from carmakers making a beeline for green mobility.
Competition will be stiff for the ID.4 as Honda’s first hybrid electric sedan in India; the City e:HEV, starts at 1.95 million rupees (~RM 110,000). Even Toyota has agreed to look into adapting its hydrogen fuel cell car, the Mirai, for local weather conditions.
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Even Kia will pip Volkswagen by introducing its first electric car there by the end of the year. Sister company Hyundai will roll out 6 battery models by 2028 and will be launching the electric Ioniq 5 this year as well.
The surging costs of commodities has severely impacted Volkswagen’s profit margins, forcing them to raise prices twice to counter the inflation. It doesn’t stop there as the carmaker will be raising prices again as cost prices have increased by 10-12 percent this year.
A lot of the supply chain issues can be traced to the war in Ukraine as the besieged country is a supplier for specific components to plenty of carmakers.
These include metals such as nickel; a core component of the high-strength steel used in producing the shells of vehicles.
To alleviate the supply chain shortage, Volkswagen is exploring increasing the capacity of existing suppliers as well as procuring alternate suppliers.
This has led to the carmaker introducing new variants to cover the shortage of infotainment and display systems as they estimate the supply chain constraints and semiconductor shortage to continue for at least another 6 months.