Skoda India sees growth in automatics and network expansion as key drivers to reach 3 per cent market share, with EV plans and a new SUV also in the works.
All photographs: Kind courtesy Skoda/Facebook
As Skoda Auto India eyes a 3 per cent share of the domestic car market by end of this year from a current 1.8 per cent, indicating doubling of sales, it sees opportunity in the automatic transmission segment which now constitutes only 25 per cent of the market.
Skoda already has a higher penetration of automatics in its overall sales.
Skoda Auto India Brand Director Ashish Gupta told Business Standard that the automatic version of the Kylaq has been priced such (starting at ₹10.85 lakh) to make it one of the most accessible torque converter automatic cars in the market.
“Automatics (cars) are around 25 per cent of the market in India, and this is in contrast to developing countries where automatics are almost 90 per cent of the markets,” Gupta said, adding that automatics constitute 50 per cent of Skoda’s sales.
“Our target is to move this mix to at least 70 per cent, and offer European automatic technology to our customers,” he added.
In the sub four-meter SUV segment, manual transmission cars are almost 65-70 per cent of the market, and Skoda sees an opportunity to convert customers here. “With increasing number of women drivers in India, automatics are a big opportunity,” he added.
IMAGE: (From left) Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Brand Director, Petr Janeba; Chairman & CEO Skoda Auto, Klaus Zellmer; and MD & CEO Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, Piyush Arora, during the launch of Skoda Kylaq, in Mumbai.
Skoda is also betting on network expansion to boost sales further in the country.
Over the last six months it has expanded its network to almost 296 touchpoints, up from 230 or so last year at the same time. “We target to reach 350 touchpoints this year,” Gupta said.
This expansion is bringing in pockets in existing urban areas as well as tier-2 and tier-3 towns under the fold.
“Network expansion should actually help to boost our volumes by 30-40 per cent for the existing products,” he said. Skoda sold 36,000 units last year in India.
The growth of the Kylaq, which falls in a segment (compact SUV) which is 30 per cent of the market, and the growth is coming from new centres which are typically the smaller towns.
“But again you know a smaller town is sometimes a matter of definition. Today a small town can also have a population of two million and above. So the aspirations are not very different between people from smaller towns,” Gupta said.
The reason he felt the Kylaq sees demand is that they have a product which meets aspirations and also the capabilities to buy.
“We have always been a sub 1 per cent market share brand in India, and with the introduction of the Kylaq we are aiming for a 3 per cent market share,” he added.
Moreover, the Czech automaker may develop another SUV falling in between the Kushaq (mid-SUV) and the Kodiaq (high-SUV).
Skoda received almost 500 bookings for the Kodiaq launched around two months back, and have delivered 250 cars.
“We have a product that addresses the bigger SUV segment. Is there an opportunity for an SUV between the Kushaq and the Kodiaq? Right now we are working to define what can be the sweet spot, and what could be the right product for that kind of a segment,” Gupta said.
He clarified that it will have to be a development for India without divulging any further details.
The segment between the Kushaq and Kodiaq is around 10-12 per cent of the market now.
As for EVs, Gupta says one would hear soon from the company. There are plans for a localised EV.
The industry had estimated that the inflection point for EVs in India will come around 2026-27, Gupta said, adding that the projection was EVs would be 5.5 to 6 per cent of the market by 2025.
Last month the EV penetration was over 4 per cent, and by the time we end this year it will be around 5 per cent or so.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
