Indian Market is Very Important for Skoda

Mumbai: Auto major Skoda Auto today said India is an important market for the company and it would seek to expand its favourable market position further in the country.

"The Indian market is very important for Skoda. We hope Skoda India will continue on the successful path of the past ten years and expand its favourable market position further," Skoda's Member of the Board & Director, Sales & Marketing, Auto Jürgen Stackmann told reporters here.

Skoda India has started the new year on a firm note having sold 6,781 cars in January and February, up 29 percent over the same period in 2011.

Last year, Skoda had not only increased sales by 50 percent to 30,005 units but its market share in India also grew to 1.31 percent. We are determined to take full advantage of this growth trend in the Indian market, Stackmann said.

As part of growth plans, the company has launched SkodaRapid, the new Indian compact saloon in late 2011 produced at its Pune plant.

"The Rapid's start in India was very successful. It is the new benchmark in the compact saloon segment. This year will be the first full sales year for Rapid, and we expect it to drive up total sales in India," Stackmann said.

Meanwhile, the company today appointed Sudhir Rao as managing director of Skoda India who has several years of experience as a top-level executive in the automobile industry with an international background.

Stackmann predicted that China, India and Russia would become the fastest growing markets for the company in near future. At present, the European market accounts for 60 percent of the automaker's total sales while 40 percent sales are in emerging countries. Skoda is aiming to turn this upside down by 2018 when 60 percent of the company's sales should be in the regions outside of Europe, he said.

Commenting on international market, Stackmann said Skoda wants to raise their global sales to at least 1.5 million by the year 2018. To achieve this target, over the next two to three years, the company will be introducing a new model roughly every six months. To ensure this, Skoda is making necessary investments in capacities, he added.