The Czech based car maker, Skoda Auto has seen a relatively decent innings in the Indian market with its product portfolio mainly concentrated in the C segment executive vehicles. With the Skoda Fabia, the company entered into the compact hatchback segment and at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo showcased their next offering, the Rapid which is targeted at the compact sedan segment. Skoda has time and again stated that the Indian market is one of the most important ones for Skoda and to tap this growing market more effectively, they are planning to introduce a new model roughly every six months in the market.
Skoda Auto has a target to raise their global sales volumes to at least 1.5 million and for this, such aggressive steps would be necessary. In order to achieve this, the company is carrying out necessary investments in terms of capacity expansion and presence in international markets. The year 2011 proved to be the most successful year for the company with global sales standing at 8,79,200 units. Compared to 2010, Skoda’s sales rose by more than 50% to about 30,000 units. Currently, 60% of the Skoda manufactured cars are sold in the European countries while the rest 40% are sold in emerging countries. Skoda aims to turn this relationship upside down by 2018 – 60 percent of ŠKODA sales should be in the regions outside of Europe.
Skoda also emphasised that their new model, the Rapid has seen a strong positive response from the market. The Rapid has till now received 4 of the most prestigious Automotive Awards from the Indian media who have rated the product very highly in their reviews reiterating Skoda’s growth strategy in India with the Rapid. Skoda has also appointed a Managing Director for its India operations who is Mr. Sudhir Rao. Mr. Sudhir Rao has years of experience as a top-level executive in the automobile industry with an international background. He has perfect knowledge of the Indian market. Under his leadership, ŠKODA India will continue on the successful path of the past ten years and expand its favourable market position further
