Expanding its India operations, Skoda will launch a new compact SUV which will debut next year in 2025.
Another made in India and made for India product is in the pipeline which will debut in the highly competitive compact SUV segment. This comes after the Volkswagen Group has approved the next phase of investment for the Indian market which will aid the capacity expansion. Targeted at ICE (Internal Combustion) and EVs, the Czech carmaker is aiming high by eyeing a yearly sales of 1 lakh units and a 5% market share in India by the end of this decade.
The results of the company’s India 1.0 program have been positive till now and that is one of the key driving factors behind this new expansion strategy. The new compact SUV which will be joining the Skoda’s fleet next year will obviously be positioned at a lower price point, thus driving more sales. The MQB-A0-IN platform is heavy localised and was developed specifically for the Indian market. For the record, the current crop of the MQB-A0 based cars in India scored full 5 stars in GNCAP crash test rating.
With the new investment, the annual production capacity of the manufacturing facility will go up to 2.5 lakh units from the existing 1.8 lakh units. As per the company’s top officials, the 50% of the Skoda cars manufactured outside the Czech Republic comes from India. This highlights the significance that India holds for the car maker.
In addition to the new compact SUV, the fully electric Skoda Enyaq will also debut in the India this year. In addition to a great 2023 in India, Skoda enjoyed the trend internationally as well, registering good growth in terms of sales figures.
We believe that new product strategy for the Indian market in the need of the hour for Skoda Auto Volkswagen India. While the current crop of cars are performing decently well, introducing of new products across different segment will help to drive more sales and introduce the brand to a new set of customers.