The Czech car maker wants to corner at least a third of the overall mid-size sedan market and edge ahead of Honda to lead the saloon segment with the newly launched Slavia.
The new mid-size sedan rolled out for the Indian buyers on Monday starts at Rs 10.69 lakh to 15:39 lakh ex-showroom – it undercuts the current leader Honda City in pricing by 30,000 to Rs 50000 depending on the variant. While some variants are at a premium to 5th gen Honda City, Skoda offers turbo petrol engines across the range as opposed to the MPI engines offered on the City.
Zac Hollis, brand director for Skoda told ET he wants the brand to be number one choice in sedans and with the Slavia the company wants to grab the leadership position in the mid-size sedan segment.
“The new Slavia fits very well into our brand positioning of value-luxury. It is the biggest, widest and longest sedan its class. The ride, handling, features akin to bigger sedans in the market. We are already a leader in the Octavia and Superb segment, we are confident of stretching the value premium quotient in the lower price bracket,” added Hollis.
While the sedan segment share has fallen below 10%, the absolute volumes of sedans are expected to grow in the future and may almost double by the end of the decade to over 2.5 lakh per annum.
“While the love for SUVs is growing, but there are specific sedan buyers in the market who have been waiting for something exciting in the space, with the Slavia, we are confident of catering to their need,” added Hollis.
Skoda is planning to sell about 2500-3000 units of Slavia in a month. The mid-size sedan will help the company sustain its volumes momentum in its India 2.0 plan which was kickstarted by the compact SUV Kushaq.
Hollis says with the Kushaq SUV – Skoda was aiming for a segment share of 10% in the mid-size SUV segment and the company is almost there, whereas Slavia will look to grab a much higher share over 30-35%.
“While SUVs are much sought after – so Kushaq will continue to account for a major of over 50-60% and the balance 40% or so will be brought in by the Slavia. Since the time Slavia has been displayed at the showroom, there has not been a single cancellation of bookings, we are confident of sustained momentum for the brand,” added Hollis.
Apart from expanding the product portfolio, the company has also expanded its network footprint to cater to the larger customer base with 220 outlets.
Hollis said the product excitement will continue in the future as well, with multiple interventions on both Kushaq and Slavia in the coming two years. However on all new models beyond Kushaq and Slavia, Hollis says
“We are exploring a sub-4 metre SUV post 2.0, even a three row SUV is being explored. On the EV front, we are exploring a CKD version of some of our global models, but there is no decision taken yet,” he added.
