According to Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen design, Indian customers love bling and the T-Cross will have some of it, still being a true Volkswagen.
Yesterday we reported that Volkswagen will be debuting the T-Cross SUV in India at the 2020 Auto Expo. Not only the T-Cross, but Volkswagen has a slew of new cars coming under the ‘India 2.0’ strategy. Skoda too is a part of this strategy and we will see new cars coming from Skoda as well. These cars will be built on VW Group’s MQB AO platform, modified for India, thus called MQB AO IN.
Volkswagen cars typically bear a simplistic and clean design philosophy and as a matter of fact, have found it difficult to find a good customer base. Indian customers love some bling on their cars and those cars actually sell more. In this context, in an interview with Autocar India at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2019, Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen design has said that they have been carefully listening to the wants of Indian customers as they are keen to set their foot deeper in the Indian automobile market.
Klaus said that the upcoming Volkswagen T-Cross would have “a little bit of masala” in terms of design to suit the local taste but also remain a Volkswagen. “The brand is a brand is a brand; if you do something that is not true to the brand then you’re betraying the brand. So we have to extend the soul and the boundaries of the brand into the Indian territory of taste. We will do so, but we will stay true to the brand.” Bischoff said.
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He further said that this makes designing a car that suits local taste quite difficult. However, they are still confident that they can deliver a certain level of sophistication and a level of perceived quality of execution that is expected from the brand while also catering to the local demands. This philosophy could also be extended to other cars from Volkswagen in the future which also includes the replacement for the Vento.
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And what could those India specific styling cues be? Well, a dash of chrome on the face at the bumper area and the grille perhaps or some extra body cladding maybe. We will know when the car officially makes its debut at the 2020 Auto Expo. The Volkswagen’s sister car, the Skoda Kamiq will also be debuting alongside the T-Cross in India at the 2020 Auto Expo.
