Skoda’s stint in the Indian car market has been unmarked by aggressive forays in the small car market, which accounts for 70 per cent of sales in the country. Now, as holding company Volkswagen AG gears up to tap in on growing demand for vehicles in the emerging markets of India and China to topple Toyota as the world’s largest car maker by 2018, Skoda India has an important role to play in sealing the group’s ambitions on the global scale.
It is perhaps to realise this that Skoda recently appointed Sudhir Rao as MD of its India operations earlier this year. Prior to this, Rao was instrumental in steering French car maker Renault’s successful comeback in the market in India. He played a key role in setting up the Renault-Nissan manufacturing unit in Chennai and launched the company’s first hatchback Pulse in India.
It is Rao’s knowledge of the domestic market coupled with his global experience which made Skoda pick him. Rao has worked with General Motors, and extensively in Europe and the United States. Skoda India, with sales of around 30,000 units contributed 3.4 per cent to global sales last year. Skoda accounts for a little over 10 per cent for sales in Volkswagen AG.
In 2011, Volkswagen sold 8.3 million vehicles worldwide compared to Toyota’s 7.95 million (it took a hit due to the tsunami in Japan). With flat sales in developed countries and Toyota selling 9.58 million units in 2012 (a global record), Rao would have to play an active role to shore up volumes in India. Developing markets like Brazil, India, Indonesia, Russia and China could well decide who finally wins the race.
