Branded Content: Retracing Skoda’s Road To 100k

Skoda Auto India is no stranger to achieving sales milestones. But this is a very special one. The company has reached an important milestone of selling over 1,00,000 cars over the last two years. It achieved this landmark in the shortest time in its India operations, further underscoring the fact that India is a key market for the company.

Reaching this sales milestone is no easy feat, but Škoda Auto India did it on the back of two very special cars – the Kushaq and Slavia, and an India-first strategy. This duo sits on the MQB-A0-IN platform that was specifically developed for India by teams in India and the Czech Republic. It has been designed with a focus on a high 95 percent localization level, allowing low cost of ownership.

The year 2022 was a record-breaking one for Škoda Auto India – following the launch of Kushaq and Slavia, it sold 53,721 cars. Despite supply chain issues posing a challenge in 2023, the brand continued with its product offensive strategy with all new editions of the Kushaq and Slavia. Backing this up has been the Kodiaq, which registered a sales jump of 100 percent over the previous year, recording an all-time annual high that allowed the company to end the year with nearly 50,000 units.

An unwavering commitment to safety has meant that both Kushaq and Slavia topped the safety charts in India and last year, and Škoda Auto became India’s only manufacturer with a fleet full of cars that are crash-tested and rated 5-star safe for both adults and children.

But a product offensive wasn’t the company’s only strategy that helped achieve the remarkable sales milestone. To back up these award-winning products, Skoda Auto needed a solid nation-wide presence. And it delivered on that front too. The company has expanded its network of customer touchpoints by over 100 percent from 120 at the beginning of 2021 to 260 by end-2023.

To support these touchpoints, it was critical to have a reliable service experience, and Skoda delivered with quick service completion times, low turnaround time for parts and spares, and low cost of maintenance and ownership. Streamlining the process and boosting customer satisfaction is Skoda’s innovative Service CAM initiative launched last year. The smartphone tool allows customers to remotely monitor, accept or reject jobs based on their preferences, ensuring transparency throughout the service process.

But the customer-centric approach doesn’t stop there. Skoda also organizes tailor-made experiences to get closer to its existing and prospective customers. These include the Škoda Drive Experience, which offers a bespoke luxury experience with the Kodiaq 4×4.

With 1,00,000 cars sold, Skoda Auto may have had another sales milestone in its bag, but it’s far from resting on its laurels. For 2024, it has lined up a mix of new product announcements and launches, further expanding its lineup and simultaneously continuing to grow its nation-wide footprint as well. It also plans to bolster its international footprint with exports from India, which are expected to play a vital role in the entry of Škoda Auto to Vietnam.

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