Dr. Lauermann is also happy with the way the Maharashtra Government and the CM are actively taking steps to bring ease of doing business in the region. "But there is a lot of work to do. It's a long way but they are on the right way," he adds.

Volkswagen's ‘Think Blue Factory' initiative launched in 2012 for manufacturing plants across the globe has achieved quite good results at the Pune plant in 2015 across different parameters. Dr. Lauermann is delighted about it.

"It is the Volkswagen Group's global initiative in terms of its responsibility towards the environment. In India, we are actually ahead of the programme. We have reached the target of reducing 25 percent in power, waste and VOC little earlier then the schedule. But this does not mean that we are stopping the programme. We understand that this is our responsibility and commitment to the environment. So we will continue on our way and also find some new ideas."

So how's been Dr. Lauermann personal experience in India? He speaks with his signature smile. "I come here very optimistically like I have done in all the other countries. When I came here I thought it will be easy with my experience. But it was not. Of course, if you have an open mind then you can really experience a lot in this country. Unfortunately, I haven't had much time but I have travelled a little bit.

"This country is really very interesting. Going ahead, I will see more of India and try to understand it a little more. While I do not understand the local languages, I do make an effort to understand the culture." Like he was doing just before we started the interview - the Ganesh Makhars? "Yes, that was very interesting. There we see a lot of creativity. And this is something that we see all across the country. It's truly fantastic."

And Volkswagen India's long term plans? According Dr. Lauermann, it is very clear. "We have to define our products fitting exactly with this market. This is a huge market and it has the potential to be the biggest automotive market in the world. In our strategy, we need to consider a lot of changes and transformation that are happening right now. There will be big challenges. In Europe and North America we are talking about autonomous cars. This will obviously not be the first solution for India obviously but there will be certain steps coming. We are talking about connectivity. So the business models itself are changing," he says.

Dr. Lauermann also believes that Volkswagen India will also have to take into consideration things like the growth of mobile services and car companies like Ola. "Therefore, you have to understand what you are doing. You need the right products but you must prepare yourself for the future.

"You also need to think how you can create new business ideas here for India. Because they will come for sure. It's not the same development like we have seen in Europe. It will be faster. So you have to be prepared and this we are doing in our strategy as well," he says confidently as he signs off.

END