“Most of the markets in Europe have declined because of recession and semiconductor shortage. If we continue growing, we may make it happen,” Peter Solc, brand director, Skoda Auto India said alluding to India overtaking Czech Republic as the second largest market. India was the only market last year that saw sales touch a record high, he said. “We are crafting a sustainable strategy for the India market to grow,” he added.
Encouraged by the success of the models launched under the India 2.0 strategy, Skoda is aiming at a double-digit growth in the current year. It’s a part of the mid-term plan to achieve sales volumes of 1,00,000 units by 2025.
With sales of a record 53,721 units in 2022, a growth of 125% year-on-year, the India subsidiary is now amongst the top three markets for Skoda Auto behind Germany and Czech Republic respectively.
Meanwhile, Skoda Auto will be entering India’s electric passenger vehicle market next fiscal with the Enyaq iV, its first electric SUV. To begin with, it would sell as an imported model and eventually get assembled locally, Petr Šolc, brand director at the firm told reporters on Friday at a virtual press meet.
The Czech carmaker plans to launch the special edition models of the Kodiaq, Kushaq and Slavia in addition to the BSVI phase II-compliant Superb and Octavia as it seeks to make deeper inroads with the models launched as part the India 2.O strategy.
The company will also expand its network spread across India and enter new cities across India. It presently has presence in 140 cities.
Even as the market has seen a clear consumer shift to SUVs, Skoda remains optimistic of the sedan. The Slavia sedan, the second Skoda Auto product under India 2.0 has also directly spurred the premium mid-size sedan category in the country, the company claims.
The segment has witnessed substantial growth in 2022 compared to 2021, and the Slavia sedan holds a healthy double digit market share. It sits on the same platform as the Kushaq and boasts an SUV-like 179mm of ground clearance, while retaining the elegant lines of a sedan.
The MQB-A0-IN platform’s low maintenance costs and costs of ownership going as low as Rs 0.46 per kilometres has propelled growth, the company said in the statement.
