With revamped portfolio in India, Skoda eyes 20% sales growth this year

Czeck automaker Skoda expects its sales to grow by up to 20 per cent to around 20,000 units in India this year riding on the back of a revamped product portfolio.

The company, which ended last year with a sales growth of 30 per cent at around 17,500 units, expects benefits of refreshed versions of Rapid, Octavia and Octavia RS to reflect during the current year sales.

It also expects Kodiaq SUV to bring in robust numbers during the year. The company had introduced the premium SUV in October 2017.

"We have entered this year with very good momentum. The way we see it the industry should be growing by 6-8 per cent this year and we should be able to continue our momentum which means we should grow by double digit anywhere between 15-20 per cent," Skoda Auto India Director Sales, Service and Marketing Ashutosh Dixit told PTI.

He added that sales during the year would also be bolstered by the full year numbers of Kodiaq which was launched in October last year.

"This is going to be the first full year for the SUV. Even without Kodiaq we were able to achieve a 30 per cent growth last year," Dixit said.

He added that it was heartening to see that sales growth is coming from its entire product portfolio and not just from one or two products.

When asked about sales network, Dixit said the company, along with its dealer partners, has invested around Rs 100 crore in the last two years to modernise infrastructure.

Dixit said that the company aims to grow its sales network to 75 dealership by this year-end. It has 68 dealers across the country at present.