Volkswagen India starts third shift at Pune plant

Volkswagen India has announced that it is starting a third shift at Pune plant.

The first car had rolled out of this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in March 2009. In 2015, 123,456 cars were produced in a two-shift system which allows a maximum of 130,000 cars. The carmaker says growing demand from export markets and likely high volumes for the all-new Ameo compact sedan have necessitated the need for an extra shift at its plant.

Commenting on successfully integrating the third shift, Dr Andreas Lauermann, president and managing director, Volkswagen India, said: “In 2016, we are expecting growth in our domestic as well as export volumes. With the new Ameo, a car that has been specially developed for India, we are expecting a higher demand from the domestic Indian market while we look at supplying more cars to our export markets too. In all, we expect to increase our production by around 15% this year as compared to the last one.”

To support the third shift manufacturing, the carmaker has added approximately 800 new employees in the first step. Dr Andreas Lauermann said, “We have been hiring workforce across levels with varying skill sets. Our production processes demand skilled workers and we have been carefully appointing the right people for the right jobs.”

Volkswagen India currently manufactures the Polo, Vento and Skoda Rapid and also assembles the 1.5-litre TDI engine at this plant. Later this year, the Ameo will be added to the production portfolio on the same line. The company has invested approximately Euro 800 million at the plant so far and employs over 4,000 people.