There I was, still getting over the hangover of the holiday season. I was dreaming of heading to my beloved Goa, when what do I hear? Hari, the other Goan in the team, was already asking boss if he could head to the land of susegad. In the Lapiz blue Skoda Rapid Onyx that he has been driving. Seriously, Hari? The car is fairly new and holding on to its fabulous build quality tenaciously. This is despite of our Motorsport correspondents’ rally-ish driving. Nonetheless, Hari likes convention I guess, and had decided to follow the age-old Indian tradition of getting the car serviced before a road trip. And that’s when I found our man Googling for the service centre contact! “Brother, it’s 2019! You don’t need to call to book your service with the My Skoda app.”
You see, Skoda India has revamped its entire sales and service network in a bid to enhance the ownership experience. From providing AI-enabled chatbots to facilitate 24×7 customer support to their ‘Peace of Mind’ campaign to understand the customer’s requirement and ultimately bring down the cost of ownership, the company is leaving no stone unturned. And with the ‘My Skoda’ app, is revamping the ownership experience. The app packs everything you would ever need help with. From storing your car-related documents and service records to getting service estimates and even booking your service, the app has got your back. Enlightened thus, Hari had the app installed. After filling up a few basic details, had the car’s service, insurance, warranty and roadside assistance related information at his finger tips.
The first thing he did was to check the estimate of the car’s service (month-end crunch, you see) hoping the prices won’t burst his bubble. Little did he know that there’s been a 13 per cent drop in the prices of inspection services, fast moving wear and tear parts and key parts. And to top it all, there’s not been an upward revision in spare part prices in the last four years. Thanks to its digital tools, the pricing of parts remains uniform across India. This also enables the company to stock up parts at their service centres as per requirement.
Relieved, he quickly selected a dealer and booked the service. Before the chap could picture himself crackin’ open a cold one on a Goan beach, we received a call from the dealership confirming the appointment. Impressed by their responsiveness, we fiddled around a bit more with the app. A handy feature we came across was the location assistance. With just a couple of taps, the app can guide you back to where you parked the car. Fancy that!
The app also features a trip calculator that maintains fuel, food, stay and other expenses on your trip. And not just that, Skoda has added a fuel cost calculator and a fuel log too. With the My Skoda app, you can get roadside assistance by just tapping one button. Not only has the company launched the country’s first four-year service programme, but has also made it easily accessible. You can even select any car from the app and book a test drive right away if you fancy a new one. Now ain’t that the real digital revolution?
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