Volkswagen Directs Dealers Not To Sell Polo in India

[allhyundaicars]

In a letter addressed to its dealers, Volkswagen has directed them not to "physically deliver" any Polo vehicle.

"We request, not to physically deliver any Polo vehicle (all variants) with immediate effect till further notice from VW," the dealers were told.

The letter was signed by two Senior Volkswagen officials - Ashish Gupta, Head of After Sales - Operations and Pankaj Sharma, Head of Sales Operations, to their dealer partners. ET has reviewed the letter.

When ET sought a reaction from VW officials in India, they confirmed the development but said a detailed statement will be shared later in the evening.

Source economic times.

 

[Akash1886]

In a letter addressed to its dealers, Volkswagen has directed them not to "physically deliver" any Polo vehicle.

"We request, not to physically deliver any Polo vehicle (all variants) with immediate effect till further notice from VW," the dealers were told.

The letter was signed by two Senior Volkswagen officials

Thats really bad news for buyers. Just yesterday, there was a Limited Edition Polo launch news floating on the net and today this! Really a important share buddy, thanks! Polo is a good machine but it may be possible that emission bug is at play here.

Regards

Akash

 

[allhyundaicars]

Maybe or maybe not since no other car is mentioned in the circular. Let's wait for any kind of development.



m.economictimes.com/industry/auto/news/passenger-vehicle/cars/volkswagen-directs-dealers-not-to-sell-popular-hatchback-polo-in-india/articleshow/49257010.cms

 

[adithya]

What does "physically deliver" mean?. does anybody know?

 

[TSIVipul]

I just had a word with VW Gurgaon and they were like "Sir we had no such notice from VW and we are delivering the cars like always."

This one needs a confirmation I guess.

Lets Tweet guys!

 

[Iron Rock]

The full economic times article, please read the last para too.

MUMBAI: Volkswagen India, on Wednesday directed its dealers not to sell any Polo, its popular hatchback model in the market with immediate effect.

In a letter addressed to its dealers, Volkswagen has directed them not to "physically deliver" any Polo vehicle.

"We request, not to physically deliver any Polo vehicle (all variants) with immediate effect till further notice from VW," the dealers were told.

The letter was signed by two Senior Volkswagen officials - Ashish Gupta, Head of After Sales - Operations and Pankaj Sharma, Head of Sales Operations, to their dealer partners. ET has reviewed the letter.

When ET sought a reaction from VW officials in India, they confirmed the development but said a detailed statement will be shared later in the evening.

Volkswagen directs dealers not to sell popular hatchback Polo in India

However, VW clarified that it had nothing to do with the recent controversy surrounding VW over a software that was capable of cheating emission tests. A VW official said the EA189 engine which is installed in a large number of Volkswagen vehicles in the country along with the software that has caused so much problem for the European giant in developed markets is not a reason for the directive to the dealers.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...chback-polo-in-india/articleshow/49257010.cms

 

[TSIVipul]

Then what can be the reason?

A one line letter..
Dealer says "we havent got any such info"
Even petrol version also stopped

I unable to understand what can be wrong.

IR sirji, this time I need some insight from business managers, please help this poor chap.

More important question:
Customers frustrated because of delayed deliveries or because of this notice may end up cancelling their bookings. What will happen to those inventories then?
Maybe after a month we will have Polos selling with offers like "50k cash discount, free insurance, 0% interest, free AMC for three years and pay installments in 2017". Maybe I will buy a GT TDi then

There are two possibilities IMO:
1) Defective lot of some shared component discovered. So a specific lot is being blocked. They can't directly point out hence stop all the deliveries and address the defective ones.
2) Trying to hide the diesel engine issue by blocking the sales of petrol ones too.

 

[rselva]

Why hasn't VW started warning new customers not to drive their Polo? It is clear that something seriously is wrong with Polo's recent batch. If customers bought cars from recent batches, then VW should immediately send warning to recent customers. I think this has to be flashed on all media urgently.

 

[m_sherbet]

I think it's just a temporary thing. They have probably identified some defect in some part or some minor issue, which they could like to correct before the cars are delivered to the customers. Most probably things will be sorted in a week or two & it could be back to normal.

 

[TSIVipul]

Here is an update:

“Volkswagen India has confirmed a temporary hold on deliveries of its carline Polo due to a technical reason which is currently under evaluation. This concerns a limited number of cars out of a specific production period. Volkswagen further confirms that deliveries for the non-impacted Polo range continues as per schedule. Volkswagen would like to clarify that the temporary hold on deliveries is not related to the ongoing EA 189 diesel engine topi.”

Source: Update: Volkswagen asks dealers to NOT deliver any Polo cars to customers | Motoroids

 

[vm2011]

There are two possibilities IMO:
1) Defective lot of some shared component discovered. So a specific lot is being blocked. They can't directly point out hence stop all the deliveries and address the defective ones.
2) Trying to hide the diesel engine issue by blocking the sales of petrol ones too.

There is only the first one could be 99.9% the case - A recall seems to be in the offing shortly.

Here is a speculation,

Few people in the know of the development said, the issue may be pertaining to a handbrake and it may have impacted a small lot of vehicles, probably in few hundreds, which were produced recently.

Volkswagen asks dealers not to sell popular hatchback Polo in India - The Economic Times

 

[acechip]

"Temporary hold, "technical reason", "under evaluation".

As if cheating 11 million customers and their governments was not enough, VW India came up with this message with the above highly suspicious words ?
It may not be related to the emission scandal per-se, but VW cannot be fully trusted right now. They have a long way to go before re-establishing that credibility- in their own words, in fact.
Atleast they owe it to the customers who may have fully booked and paid for their cars, and quite a few with loan commitments.

 

[hemantp]

Yes, that's the point - we, as buyers can now trust VW neither as an engineering wise reliable nor as ethical company.

I was about to go ahead with my plan to buy GT TSI but now looking for alternatives!

 

[vm2011]

I was about to go ahead with my plan to buy GT TSI but now looking for alternatives!

If your concern is regarding the Indian Polo, then it seem a non issue. We will hear shortly on this from VW. Seems a Part Quality issue and a recall.

Polo GT TSI is the best in the market today in its segment, do not compromise if you can.

Suggest you wait for for a day or two and this issue will be crystal clear.

 

[TSIVipul]

Issue after issue; all this is just gonna result in a number of customers shifting to other brands.

Heck, looks like Figo DCT and TDCi are gonna add insult to this injury of VW. Those who wanted GT TSi or TDi can have only Figo DCT and TDCi options which can rival the GT siblings.

I don't want to but still my mind is assuming that cancellation of bookings may have started happening. There is a number of people who have this reason enough (stop deliveries due to technical issues) to look elsewhere for their set of four wheels.

Adding to this, with the fines of billions of dollars facing the VW; will they still be able to give similar offers and discounts his year too like they used to give?

Still of this is true then kudos to VW for stopping the deliveries (maybe it is a serious issue which can cause irreversible damage to customers) unlike our market leaders who deliver first and address later.