Skoda Auto Volkswagen India has opened a new 33,000 sq ft wing of its Technology Centre Pune in Baner, bringing part of its engineering work inside the city for the first time. The expansion, unveiled in April 2026, sits alongside the R&D operations the company already runs at Chakan. Across the two sites, the centre now has more than 450 engineers.
The company is the Volkswagen Group’s Indian arm and is headquartered in Pune. It manages six group brands in the country: Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley. Its plants at Chakan and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar have a combined annual capacity of 315,000 vehicles. The business has shipped more than 700,000 vehicles to over 40 countries and passed two million locally produced vehicles in 2025.
What the centre will do
The Baner wing is set aside for vehicle development, platform engineering, software and sustainable mobility. Its teams will work on projects for India and for global markets. They will also support localisation and export programmes and help keep local development in line with group standards on quality, safety and technology. The company has not disclosed what the expansion cost, and it has not given a separate headcount for the new wing.
Why Pune
Pune is already the company’s base. Its headquarters and its Chakan plant are both in the region, so a second engineering site in the city keeps development teams close to manufacturing and to management. Baner also gives the company an address in Pune’s western office belt, which is easier to reach for engineers who live in the city than the industrial zone at Chakan. Pune’s long history as an automotive manufacturing and design centre means a deep pool of experienced vehicle engineers to hire from.
Skoda Auto Volkswagen India’s footprint
Technology Centre Pune was set up in 2019. Its engineers have worked on models designed and built in India for the domestic market and for export, including the Volkswagen Taigun, the Skoda Kushaq and the Skoda Kylaq. Managing Director and CEO Piyush Arora leads the Indian business. The new wing adds to a footprint that already covers two plants, a headquarters and an engineering operation that serves both local and overseas programmes.
What it signals
Global carmakers increasingly treat their Indian engineering teams as a source of work for the wider group, not just a support desk for local models. Software and platform work for electrified and connected vehicles is where demand for engineers is growing fastest, and this expansion puts more of that work in Pune. It also shows that established automotive centres in India are growing by adding urban sites close to talent, rather than relying only on campuses next to the factory.
At a glance
- Home country: Germany
- Sector: Automotive
- City: Pune
- Date: April 2026
- Status: Expansion of an existing centre
- Scale: 33,000 sq ft wing in Baner, more than 450 engineers across Baner and Chakan
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