Skoda Auto India has clocked its best ever sales results. With 4222 cars sold in August 2022, the total Skoda India sales tally stands at 37,568 cars sold in the first eight months of 2022. That beats the previous highest full-year number of 34,678 clocked back in 2012. And don’t forget Skoda India still has a full quarter left in 2022 to add to that number.
Congratulating Skoda India on the record numbers, Skoda Auto’s newly appointed global CEO Klaus Zellmer says, “These outstanding results have enabled India to rank among the top three markets for Skoda Auto globally in the first half of this year. A big contribution to fulfilling our global ambitions is coming from India. We are well on track to more than double our sales in 2022 over last year.”
Record sales performance of India 2.0 project
The foundation for Skoda India’s sales success is of course the India 2.0 cars, Kushaq and Slavia, with their 95 per cent localisation and ownership cost starting at Rs 0.46/km. The dealership network has also grown from 175 in Dec 2021 to 205 right now with the target of 250 by the year end.
“Today Skoda products address 20 per cent of the Indian market, in terms of the segments we are present in,” adds Zelmer. “We aim to more than double this in the mid-term.” To that end Skoda India’s focus in now on consolidating the India 2.0 project. "It is really about capacity, available resources, and the transformation that the society, the market and our Group are going through. All these factors will be the basis for deciding the way forward,” says Zellmer.
Skoda India’s electric car journey
Skoda India is keenly looking at the electric vehicle market in India. The Skoda Envaq iV full-electric SUV is already in India undergoing testing and validation before an expected launch in the first half of 2023. Zellmer says that Skoda India’s route for EVs will start with CBUs and then move to parts and components assembly. Local production is definitely in the pipe line but it depends on, “How quickly the market matures and the ecosystem develops, especially the charging infrastructure.”
Electric car partnership with Mahindra
“Localising core MEB components in India are pivotal for scale,” says Zellmer. The ground work for this has already been laid down by the land mark agreement with Mahindra Auto for suppling of components of the VW Group MEB full-electric platform. “All possibilities and associations are being looked at, to best suit the customer needs,” says Zellmer.
The global CEO does adds that the way forward for Skoda Auto in India will be a balance between ICE and EVs. “In the immediate future our portfolio will be ICE oriented but we have already brought in some Skoda Enyaq’s to India, which are being tested across the country.”
2022 to be the biggest ever year
Commenting on Skoda Auto India’s record sales figures brand director Zac Hollis says, “All of my communication this year has been about making 2022 the biggest year. And now, we have done it. This is a landmark moment for Skoda Auto in India, and in the world. The credit to this achievement goes to our teams, our partners, and most importantly to our customers and our fans. It is their trust in our brand that has made this feat possible. Moving ahead, we look forward to more mountains to climb and more horizons to conquer.”