German carmaker Volkswagen took the opportunity to showcase its Make In India initiative at the ongoing Hannover Messe 2015. Earlier today, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel took a tour of the company’s exhibiton stand.

The visit focused on the Volkswagen Group's commitment in India. During their tour of the exhibition stand, the leaders learnt more about production of the Vento sedan, which is built at the Indian plant in Pune and exported to over 30 countries worldwide. The delegation was welcomed by the CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, together with two apprentices from the Volkswagen factory in Pune.

"India is and will remain an important strategic growth market for the Volkswagen Group. We are convinced that Volkswagen will take on a key role in the Indian automobile market in the long term. We are driving localisation in India forward with our new engine assembly plant in Pune," said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. One of the exhibits presented to the guests was a Volkswagen Vento, a model specially designed for the Indian market and built at the Volkswagen plant in Pune.

Prime minister Modi and chancellor Merkel also talked to two young Indian apprentices who are training at the Pune site, and were particularly interested in Volkswagen's approach to developing young talent in India. Dual vocational training is a key to good skilled workmanship, not just in Germany, but worldwide. Today, the Volkswagen Group already trains three quarters of its 18,500 apprentices worldwide based on the German dual vocational training principle.

Photograph courtesy: press Information Bureau

Also see: A special gallery of photos from the Make in India walk through