NEW DELHI, May 29: German car major Volkswagon, which tried to enter India through a joint venture with Eicher, is now testing waters with its tie-up with Automobile Kashyap, industry sources said.

``As Volkswagon entering India through a subsidiary or through a joint venture is still a long way off, they are trying to test the Indian market through the tie-up,'' the sources said here.

Volkswagon has not been active in the Indian market for a long time and are hoping to rebuild their name through the tie-up once more Volkswagons ply on the Indian roads, the managing director of Kashyap Vehicle Works Pvt Ltd, Ms Anita Kashyap said.

``All over the world Volkswagon is the people's car but in India they have not had a significant brand name for some time as their cars are not seen in large numbers here,'' Kashyap said.

The Kashyap group, which is also the official importer and service agent of BMW, Peugeot and Land Rover in India, are the exclusive dealers for Volkswagon too.

``Under the exclusive dealership, we are introducing Volkswagon golf cabriolet model in the country by the end of the month,'' Kashyap said.The German major has had many hiccups in entering the Indian market as its talks with Eicher have ``virtually failed'', sources said.

Eicher and Volkswagon have been talking since September 1994 for setting up a joint venture to enter the Indian market and it remains inconclusive as they first decided not to introduce the `Polo' model.Later talks with Volkswagon subsidiary Skoda ran into problems over the equity structure.

Both parties jointly conducted a feasibility study and nothing materialised, but Eicher and Volkswagon steadfastly maintain that the ``talks have not failed''.

Volkswagon has been talking to other auto manufacturers in India and is also considering entering India by itself.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.