Skoda to Launch One Model/Year in India

The increasing importance for the automotive industry of the two countries which in 2009 emerged as auto super-markets, India and China, is stirring all sorts of excitement in Europe. Skoda, the Czech manufacturer who pretty much likes to keep to itself, is planning an exponential growth in India, with the goal set to launch at least one new model each year on the market there.

According to Business Standard, citing SkodaAuto India officials, the Czech assault on India will begin with the release of the Yeti later this year, sometime in October. The most extravagant Skoda to date will be followed by the launch of the Fabia facelift in December. Next year, a premium sedan (built on Volkswagen Vento's platform) which will replace the Octavia will be released, followed in turn by a car even smaller than the Fabia.

Out of all the models to be released in India, Skoda places its bets on the Fabia and its smaller sister which will be launched in the following years. For the April-May period for instance, sales of the Fabia model nearly doubled, jumping from 595 to 1,025 units.

“We are quite confident that the new Fabia will clock monthly sales of over 1,000 units,” Thomas Kuehl, SkodaAuto India member of the board for sales and marketing told the source.

For the first half of the year, India represented one of the main markets for the Volkswagen Group, the owner of the Czech brand. The country doubled its appetite for VW cars, eating up 104 percent more vehicles than in the same period last year (13,500 vehicles).

Out of the 2.94 million vehicles sold by Volkswagen in this first half however, Skoda accounted for only 307,400 units.