Volkswagen seeking to double sales for 2014
After three successive years of stellar growth from 2010 to 2012, 2013’s sales charts was less than pleasant reading for Volkswagen Group Malaysia, with sales contracting 26.6% from 13,003 cars sold in 2012 to just 9,538 units. In absolute terms, that is a reduction to the tune of 3,465 units, and the company aim to reverse that trend and go on the offensive to win even more sales.
An ambitious sales target of 20,000 units for 2014 was announced yesterday by the company’s new managing director Christoph Aringer, who further elaborated that this aggressive expansion will be fueled by the company’s line-up of locally-assembled CKD models that will account for 65% of the targeted sales.
To recap, Volkswagen announced a collaboration with DRB-Hicom in 2010 that sees the latter assume the role as a contract assembler at its plant in Pekan, Pahang. In 2012, the Passat 1.8 TSI became the first model produced by that partnership, and the last six months saw the Polo Sedan and Polo Hatchback 1.6 both added to that list. The Jetta has been confirmed as the next VW model to undergo CKD, which will commence this year.
The Polo Hatchback 1.6 CKD was officially previewed to the Malaysian public at last year’s KL International Motor Show, and officially went on sale in January at a price of RM88,628 OTR without insurance. The vehicle is powered by Volkswagen’s proven 1.6-litre MPI engine with 103hp and 153Nm, paired to a regular 6-speed automatic transmission. To date, Volkswagen has accumulated 500 bookings for the model.
