Volkswagen AG : Volkswagen Group India announces the commencement of ground breaking of the Central Training Centre

Pune, 2012-01-13

• The centre can deliver 15,000 training man days every year, reinforcing its
  commitment towards training facilities for its dealerships across India

• Dr. John Chacko, "The Central Training Centre will enable us to train the
  employees at Volkswagen dealerships in every aspect of automotive
  technology and customer orientation."

Volkswagen Group India announced the commencement of ground breaking of the Central Training Centre at the Volkswagen plant in Chakan, Pune. The ceremony witnessed the ground breaking for the Central Training Centre in an official ceremony held in the presence of Dr. John Chacko, Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India, President and Managing Director Volkswagen India Private Limited, Mr. Holger Nestler, Executive Director Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited, Mr. Juergen Kloepffer, Executive Director Finance, Volkswagen India Private Limited, Dr. Christoph Graumann, Director, Manufacturing Engineering, Volkswagen India Private Ltd. and Mr. Dietmar Hildebrandt, Director, Group Service, Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Ltd. The new proposed training centre is capable of offering training to around 15,000 training mandays for Volkswagen Group dealership employees every year. The construction of the centre will be completed by Autumn 2012.

This is another step forward towards expansion of training facilities for Volkswagen Group dealership employees. The training centre aims to equip the existing dealership employees of Volkswagen Group with the required skill-set to bring them at par with the Volkswagen Group international standards. The Central Training Centre will be the main hub for planning and executing the training programmes in the country and will also act as monitoring centre of training execution and budget of the Regional Training Centres. The centre will hold technical training programs of Volkswagen global standards and provide training on model launches and body shop, along with 'Train the Trainer' programs. The Training programmes will be designed and prepared at centre.

Dr. John Chacko said, "One of our main strategic goals is to be the top employer and to have a highly skilled workforce. Education and Training is the key and here we set the basis for our future growth plans. Last year, we introduced the Volkswagen Group Technical Education Program VG-TAP which support polytechnics with our latest training equipment and products so that the students get education at the highest professional level. So far, seven schools across India are operating with this program. In August, we inaugurated our first Regional Training Centre in Chandigarh for the existing employees at the Volkswagen Group dealerships. The Central Training Centre will enable us to train the employees at Volkswagen dealerships in every aspect of automotive technology and customer orientation."

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Hildebrandt, Director Group Service, Volkswagen Group Sales India Private Limited, said, "The centre will aim at developing technical competence and offer syllabus to enhance knowledge of Volkswagen dealership employees on the latest Volkswagen automotive technologies. This will lead the Group to prepare industry ready professionals. The Volkswagen Group dealership employees will benefit from the various training programmes offered at the centre."

The Central Training centre in Pune will support the regional training centres located across the country and will aim to increase the capacity of training facilities to accommodate optimum training needs. Along with improving and maintaining training quality and effectiveness, the centre will also help offer programmes on soft skills communication.

About Volkswagen Group India: With its headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra, the Volkswagen Group is represented by three brands in India: Volkswagen, Audi and ŠKODA. The Volkswagen Group completed 10 years of its India journey in 2010 which began with the entry of the Skoda brand in 2001, Audi brand and Volkswagen brand in 2007. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity in the market.
Group India is all set to capture the Indian market with a production capacity of 1,30,000 cars annually and an investment of Rs. 3,800 crore (580 million Euros) at the Pune Plant. Audi offers the A4, A6, A7 Sportback, A8L, Q5, Q7, RS5 Coupé and Audi R8. ŠKODA offers the Fabia, Rapid, Laura, Yeti and Superb. Volkswagen has the Polo, Vento, New Beetle, New Jetta, New Passat, Touareg and the Phaeton. Volkswagen Group India is a part of Volkswagen AG, which is globally represented by 10 brands- Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Scania, SEAT, ŠKODA, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge), MAN and Volkswagen Passenger Cars.