Volkswagen, the legendary German carmaker, targets to launch four of its new and upgraded car models in the Philippines this year.
Volkswagen cars, including its compact, sedan and wagon models were popular among Filipinos decades back. Its compact 1200 and 1300 models were even used as taxi cabs in the Visayas in the 1970’s on account of their appeal and gas economy. Its sedans also became favorite taxi cars in several Asian countries mainly for the same reason, among others.
Volkswagen Philippines president Felipe Estrella said in a recent virtual media roundtable, they will introduce their T-Cross model in the local market by the second quarter.
The company had recently launched the 2021 version of Santana, a subcompact sedan model.
Estrella said T-Cross will be the first subcompact sports utility vehicle (SUV) the German carmaker will introduce here. T-Cross recorded 300,000 unit global sales in 2020, or 45% higher than its 2019 sales score.
He said they have planned to bring in another new model in the Philippines in the third quarter while they are also working out the fourth introduction by the fourth quarter of this year.
Estrella said they also target to bring into the Philippines the Volkswagen electric vehicle (EV) models in the coming years. He said two initial EV models from the company’s ID family were already available in some markets.
In the next three years, Estrella said, Volkswagen targets to roll out six additional EVs, he added. “Where is the Philippines in this timeline? We at Volkswagen Philippines, share these aspirations. While we don’t have specific details yet, we will have it here sooner rather than later,” he assured,
Volkswagen earlier said it aims to contribute to the Paris Climate Agreement by becoming a company with a net carbon-neutral balance by 2050.