Skoda VW India Production Output To Be Trebled By 2022

Skoda Kodiaq Scout Review Test Drive — The group is bullish about its recovery in India

Skoda Auto VW has plans to treble its production output in India and also increase the market share of the group in the country.

By 2022, the group wants to operate its plants at 100 percent capacity and aims to have a 3 percent market share in India. This was revealed by Managing Director of Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, Gurpratap Boparai.

It wants to go about increasing its output in two ways. The first is by launching new models such as sedans and SUVs. The group says it will launch one new model every six months till 2020 under the India 2.0 plan.

The second way is to form a partnership with other carmakers. If that happens, Skoda Auto Volkswagen says it will expand its production capacity which will then be shared with its new partner.

Boparai said the group is in talks with all players that are looking for a contract manufacturing tie-up and is said to have recently held discussions with MG Motor India.

There is a third way the firm can make better use of its plants – through exports. For years, a major chunk of Skoda VW India production capacity was reserved for exports.

So far, the firm has exported about 5 lakh cars from India. But, come 2021, that is set to be reversed.

Bullish about its recovery in India, Skoda VW wants to satisfy customers here and thus produce as many units as the market can absorb and then utilise the rest of the production capacity for exports.

Nonetheless, exports will also grow, with the group looking to expand the global footprint for India-made cars to over 100 markets in the future.

Also, Boparai said India can gain a competitive edge on bigger car exports by removing the sub-4 metre definition, since in the global market, the segment occupies only 7 percent of total sales. This, he says, would open up India’s export industry to segments with far more potential.