Škoda Auto India on February 27 announced that it will roll out an all-new compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) by the second half of 2025 to take on Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra.
The Czech carmaker's India unit said that it would be the company’s third major product offensive after Kushaq and Slavia. The company had announced plans for an all-new compact SUV that will debut in India in the first half of 2025.
Klaus Zellmer, CEO, of Škoda Auto a.s, said, “India is crucial to the global growth of Škoda Auto, both because of its market strength and as a development and manufacturing base for our expansion in new markets including ASEAN and the Middle East.” He also stated that India is the most promising growth market for Skoda Auto globally and the country will play a crucial role in the company's international expansion.
Talking about the SUV, he noted “The all-new compact SUV due in 2025 will add an important segment for customers. I’m confident the expanding Škoda portfolio will contribute to our India growth target of achieving a market share for the Volkswagen family of brands of around 5 percent by 2030.”
The unnamed SUV would be built on the same MQB-A0-IN platform that also underpins its Kushaq SUV and Slavia sedan. Incidentally, this was the first platform developed outside of Europe and tailormade for the Indian market.
Without disclosing the price points of the upcoming model, the company stated that this vehicle will be the "new entry-level product" in Škoda Auto India’s fleet. It also confirmed that this vehicle will be a sub-4 metre SUV that uses the excise benefits for under 4-metre cars available in India.
The Kushaq alone contributes 53 percent of Skoda's sales in India with close to 21,000 units sold so far this fiscal.
Martin Jahn, Member of the Board of Management for Sales & Marketing, Škoda Auto a.s, said, “With the all-new compact SUV, we are underlining our commitment to India and its importance to our internationalisation plans. Together with the Kushaq and the Kodiaq, we will have an even better SUV portfolio for India, which is a key segment that contributes over 50 percent to all vehicle sales in the market.”
The Indian arm of Skoda Auto revealed that the car would be targeting cost-conscious city and small-town buyers and will be a critical contributor to its target to reach total annual sales of 1,00,000 in the country by 2026.
Piyush Arora, MD and CEO, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India (SAVWIPL) said, “Our R&D expertise in India has already enabled us to incorporate highly localised parts and components for our entire range. With the new compact SUV, we are furthering this strategy by systematically developing our local supplier base to provide parts and components of global standards and quality at competitive prices.”
Meanwhile, Skoda is also targeting a 5 percent market share in India for the Volkswagen family of cars, which includes Volkswagen and luxury brands Audi and Porsche. Volkswagen and Skoda, which form the bulk of sales for the Volkswagen Group, have a 2.2 percent market share in India currently.
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