Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited (ŠAVWIPL) achieved yet another milestone with the export of its 500,000th car manufactured in India. The milestone vehicle is a white Volkswagen Vento (Left Hand Drive), is part of a shipment of 982 cars being shipped to Mexico from the port of Mumbai. The company has exported over 25,000 cars in the current year marking a consistent export performance in spite of the challenging demand scenario around the world.
Commenting on the occasion, Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director, ŠAVWIPL said, "Exports are an integral part of our strategy and achieving five lakh units is a significant milestone for the company. Cars produced at the ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen manufacturing sites exemplify high quality standards we pursue globally and in India. The achievement gains more significance as we continue to export vehicles despite the current challenges in the industry on account of COVID-19 disruptions. Over the next years, we will be producing cars based on the new MBQ A0 IN platform with a high degree of localisation and will continue to explore exports markets for the India 2.0 products."
SAVWIPL started its exports program in 2010 with 65 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento for South Africa market and since then has continued to grow incrementally to build the ‘Made in India' presence to 61 countries across South America, Central America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the GCC countries and to the Caribbean region. The export program aids the company to sustainably manage production volumes with a healthy production share between domestic to export markets to tide over regional volatility of demand protecting the interest of the company as well as its workers. The current year exports account for almost 45% share of production despite the challenging market conditions across the world due to the pandemic. 
The future range of products starting 2021 will reach a higher level of localization (up to 95 %). The 4 new products developed for Indian Market for ŠKODA AUTO and Volkswagen consisting of SUVs and Notchbacks will be evaluated for exports to similar markets requiring robust built and efficient cars.
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