Skoda Auto looking to raise volumes next year, to invest Rs 100 crore to overhaul dealership network

After consolidating its Indian operations in the last couple of years, Skoda Auto, from Czech Republic, is looking forward to raise its volumes from next year onwards.

For this, the company has planned to invest Rs 100 crore in overhauling its dealership network, carrying a new identity and introducing series of service initiatives so that the company can have enough transparency.

In the near future, the company will most probably end 2016 with 15,000 units; however, since four new products are planned for next year, Skoda is eying a growth of 30% volumes, closing 2017 with over 20,000 units.

As per ET sources, the locally engineered face-lifted Rapid will be launched soon, followed by premium SUV Kodiaq. A variant of Octavia is also planned to be launched in the coming 12-18 months.

Sudhir Rao, MD of Skoda Auto said that Skoda is not going after volumes, however, it looks to position itself as a value luxury car maker, making both volumes cars and luxury cars.

"We are looking at higher volumes but not at the cost of profitability. We have gone a long way in improving our operational efficiency and ownership experience. We will aim for leadership in the segment we participate and we expect these segments to become main stream in near future," he added.

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