German carmaker Volkswagen will be driving in its two globally acclaimed performance models Golf GTI and Tiguan R-line in India as part of its steps to enhance brand positioning in the country, a senior company official said on Monday.
Volkswagen India will be launching the two models latest by the second quarter of 2025 by importing as fully built units under the 'GSR 870 rule' as a result of which volumes will be limited, Volkswagen India brand director Ashish Gupta told PTI.
"We are calling 2025 the year of 'Progressive Performance' for us... we want to make sure that we continue to grow in the Indian market.
"We want to make sure that we take the brand even higher up in terms of customer accessibility in terms of awareness and also in terms of brand image," he said.
While the company has been able to establish the VW brand on the credentials of German engineering, fun to drive safety and build quality, he said, "We now want to take it up a notch higher with the introduction of our global iconic products, which signify performance".
As early as the second quarter of 2025, Gupta said VW India will launch the Golf GTI and the all-new Volkswagen Tiguan R-line as part of the brand enhancement exercise.
"Golf is a legend worldwide with 50 years of legacy behind it and on top of that, the Golf GTI is our highest selling performance oriented 'Golf' worldwide.
"So that's something which we are bringing to India," he said.
On the all-new Tiguan R Line, he said, "It is not the normal Tiguan.
"We are bringing the top spec R-Line into India, a totally new third generation Tiguan, which is Volkswagen's one of the best sellers after the Golf worldwide."
When asked about sales expectations from the upcoming two models, he said as these will be imported as fully-built units 'GSR 870 rule', he said volumes will be limited.
Under the GSR 870 rule, VW will be importing these models certified by European authority allowing it to sell in India without homologation but will be restricted to only 2,500 units a year, across models imported as fully-built units by the group.
For Golf GTI in the first batch, the company is looking at getting around 150 cars in Q2 and for the Tiguan R-line, around 300 units, he added.
When asked about the overall sales prospects in 2025, Gupta said VW is also aligned with the industry outlook of 4-5 per cent growth, adding in the first two months of the year sales have been muted with about 2-3 per cent growth.
"Volkswagen India has had a fast start to 2025 with 3 per cent growth in sales volumes YTD February 2025 (versus last year).
"We stay true to our commitment of delivering German - engineered, safe and fun-to-drive cars to the Indian market," Gupta said, adding in 2024, VW India sold 42,500 units.
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