NEW DELHI: Skoda hopes its new Kodiaq will strengthen the brand in India as the SUV market grows, says Skoda India Director Petr Janeba
Skoda Auto is confident that the launch of the new Kodiaq SUV in India will help further strengthen its brand image, especially as the demand for SUVs continues to rise both in India and around the world.
Petr Janeba, Director of Skoda Auto India, shared his expectations from the new version of the Kodiaq.
Petr Janeba said the first generation of the Kodiaq marked the beginning of a new era for the company globally. “It was our first seven-seater and our biggest car at the time. The SUV segment is growing globally, and in India, the growth is even faster. The Kodiaq played an important role in shaping Skoda’s brand from 2017 till now,” he said.
According to Petr Janeba, the previous generation of the Kodiaq recorded over 900,000 sales worldwide, and more than 10,000 of those came from India. He believes that the new Kodiaq, which is more luxurious and offers better value for money, will perform even better in the Indian market.
“We expect to sell at least 150 per cent more than what we did with the previous version in India,” he added, underlining the company’s strong focus on expanding its presence in the Indian SUV segment. This car, Kodiaq, is a plug-in hybrid with a battery which can autonomously go more than 100 kilometres.
The all new Kodiaq comes with a limited seven different colours. “The new Kodiaq is 100 per cent localised and being built here in India. The whole car is assembled here in our Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar factory, which contributes a lot”, he stated.
He also said, that Skoda is also planning to launch their EV segment in India, which is not possible without a deeply localised EV.
Skoda was the fastest growing brand in India compared to last year. “So we are adding huge numbers, we have sold over 7,000, units and we are celebrating 25 years of Skoda in India now and 130 years this year of Skoda overall. We belong to the top three oldest brands in the world and we are very proud of it” he stated.