Volkswagen Passat gets the axe

Volkswagen has stopped production of the Passat in India, according to a report by AutocarIndia. The decision was taken owing to the dismal sales figures of the D+ segment sedan in India. Its significant rival the Honda Accord was also discontinued just a few weeks ago.  

The Passat hasn’t been selling well for a while. Volkswagen managed to sell just 235 units of the luxury-sedan in the June-November period of 2013, with only July managing to show a triple-digit sales figure. No units have been sold in the past two months. In India, the Passat was offered with a 2.0 TDI engine and the price ranged from Rs 26 lakh for the base Trendline version to Rs 32 lakh for the top-of-the-line Highline version. Recent trends have shown that a customer having a budget of Rs 26-32 lakh now-a-days has a lot of options and usually ends up picking an SUV like the Audi Q3 S.

The Passat was launched in India back in 2010 and went up against the likes of Nissan Teana, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Skoda Superb and the Honda Accord. In recent time, Indian customers haven’t been kind to any of these cars either, with just the Superb managing a decent sales figure in the segment. Honda also announced this week that it will be phasing out its luxury-sedan, the Accord.

Poor sales, increasing production costs coupled with decreasing margins, owing to the depreciating Rupee have led to carmakers into taking such decisions.  While introducing a price-hike can compensate for some cars, luxury-sedans are believed to be too big an investment to continue taking the risk.