Against 1.23 lakh units produced in 2015, German automaker Volkswagen is aiming 15 percent rise in the production in the country, banking on its upcoming compact sedan Ameo.

“There is an increase of about 15 per cent in production volume expected at the Volkswagen Pune plant in 2016 as compared to 2015,” Volkswagen India President and Managing Director, Andreas Lauermann told.

Ameo is purely for the domestic market currently, and also some additional volumes for export markets, he added.

The new model is expected to compete with the likes of Honda Amaze, Maruti DZire, Hyundai Xcent and Ford Figo Aspire that are priced between Rs 5.21 and Rs 8.57 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

In 2015, the plant's maximum production capacity in two-shift system was  1,30,000 cars per annum and 1,23,456 cars took its production. Unlike two shifts earlier, since March, the plant is operating in a three-shift system.

When asked about the reports that suggested the firm is looking to cut jobs at the plant, Lauermann said, “Volkswagen India recently announced the start of third shift to support the additional production volumes... To meet this higher production volumes, Volkswagen India has also hired additional workforce at its plant in Chakan and the company is not willing to cut down on the workforce.”

At Chakan plant in Pune, the company employed 1700 direct confirmed workers. It was at this plant, last year, 69000 cars were rolled out for the export markets of 35 countries in North America, South America, Asia and Africa.

By Phani Ch