Skoda to spread wings to Vijayawada, Vizag soon

SkodaAuto India, part of the Volkswagen Group, today said that it would expand its dealership network in Andhra Pradesh to Vijayawada and Vizag shortly.

The auto company, which has just one dealership in the state in Hyderabad, also launched for the first time in India its pre-owned cars initiative, Skoda Signature.

Addressing a press conference in the city, Imran Hassen, managing director of SkodaAuto India Private Ltd, said that the company would be expanding its presence to other cities of the state through its existing dealer Mahavir Auto.

SkodaAuto is also ready to launch the Skoda Ocatvia II by September next year and announced that the existing model of the Octavia would continue alongside the new model. The company will also be ready to launch the smaller Fabia sedan in the Indian market a couple of months before the Octavia II launch.

"We expect to sell the same number units of the Fabia as we do of the Octavia," he said. The Octavia II is a totally different car than the current Octavia and will be built on a different platform.

The company has a production capacity of 15,000 units at its plant in Aurangabad and expects to sell about 8,000 cars this calendar year.

"Having sold about 16,000 cars in India since our launch three years back we think that the launch of Skoda Signature will further add value to our customers. We intend to provide through this service the best of pre-owned practices with signature policies and procedures," Hassen said.

SkodaAuto according to Hassen was looking at a growth of 50 per cent next year and expected the same rate of growth to continue in 2006 also.

The company will also look at introducing a diesel power plant for its top of the line luxury sedan the Superb sometime in September next year, Hassen said. The company currently sells around 30 units of the Superb, powered by a six-cylinder petrol engine, every month across India.

SkodaAuto, according to Hassen, was eventually looking at making India its manufacturing hub for the entire South Asia region but was not willing to commit a time frame for this proposed move.

Hassen also indicated that the company would start exporting Skoda automobiles assembled in India to the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, from the first half of next year.

On the issue of localisation, Hassen pointed out that the company at present has localisation levels of 20 odd per cent and this would go up in the future. The company according to Hassen was also looking at ramping up its dealer network across the country and was slated to add four more dealerships to its existing 36.