Škoda Auto India Looks to Accelerate Growth Through 2023

MUMBAI:
ŠKODA AUTO India, after having its Biggest Year in 2022, made its intent for 2023 apparent with an agenda of Accelerating Growth. The company has already more than doubled its annual sales in 2022 over 2021. With sales of 53,721 units in 2022, ŠKODA AUTO India has recorded a year-on-year growth of 125% over the previous year.

For 2023, the car manufacturer plans a slew of product actions, network expansion plans and projected Accelerating Growth as its agenda, where ŠKODA AUTO India will achieve double digit growth. The company will also expand its network spread across India and enter new cities across India.

Petr Šolc, Brand Director, ŠKODA AUTO India, “We are extremely happy to cross the 50,000 sales landmark for the first time in India, with 53,721 cars sold in 2022. We have more than doubled our sales volumes over 2021, and our regional and national presence is growing, too, making 2022 truly the Biggest Year for us on all fronts. For 2023, we shall build our path toward Accelerating Growth with more product actions, ensure that our INDIA 2.0 products are well established, steadily grow our network reach, continue with our laser-sharp focus on customer satisfaction and deepen our strategic focus on widening the portfolio with both ICE and EV.”

ŠKODA KUSHAQ AND ŠKODA SLAVIA LEADING THE GROWTH
A couple of months earlier, the ŠKODA KUSHAQ SUV, the company’s first product under the INDIA 2.0 strategy earned a full 5-star safety rating in the latest Global New Car Assessment Programme (GNCAP) crash test making it the safest car in India with a full 5-stars for both adult and child occupants. Into 2023, the KUSHAQ continues leading the charts when it comes to safety.

The SLAVIA sedan, the second ŠKODA AUTO product under INDIA 2.0 has also directly spurred the premium mid-size sedan category in the country. The segment has witnessed substantial growth in 2022 compared to 2021, and the SLAVIA sedan holds a healthy double digit market share. It sits on the same platform as the 5-star safe KUSHAQ and boasts an SUV-like 179mm of ground clearance, while retaining the elegant lines of a sedan.

The year 2022 has seen ŠKODA AUTO India, with over a century-old global legacy, and an over 2- decade pedigree in India, have its Biggest Year in terms of sales in the country. The KUSHAQ SUV, launched in July 2021 and the SLAVIA sedan launched in March 2022 have been the key drivers of the company’s growth. The cars sit on the MQB-A0-IN developed in India for the world as part of the INDIA 2.0 project.

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Another key driver has been the company’s growth and expansion in network and getting closer to customers in its quest for customer-centricity. The MQB-A0-IN platform’s low maintenance costs and costs of ownership going as low as Rs 0.46 per kilometres has also helped the company find more customers and propelled growth.

Apart from the measures taken to substantially bring down the ownership costs, ŠKODA AUTO India has also taken major strides towards customer centricity and customer satisfaction by initiating key actions across the customer touchpoints. These include focused measures on improving workshop efficiency, enhancing service quality, building compact workshops, expanding mobile service vans reach and digitalization in the after-sales processes. So while 2022 has been the Biggest Year for ŠKODA in India, 2023 will be the year where ŠKODA accelerates forward in its growth journey.