Skoda Auto India, part of Europe's largest-carmaker Volkswagen, will launch three new variants of its flagship hatchback Skoda Fabia, including a new sports model this year, a top company executive of Skoa Auto India said, reports Chanchal Pal Chauhan.
The new sports car, Skoda Fabia Sportline, will have newly-designed interiors and alloy wheels. Skoda Fabia
will be fired by a powerful 1800-cc engine to cater to the growing
demand for sports vehicles. The existing Skoda Fabia range comes with
1200-1600 cc engine capacity.
"We will launch multiple variants of the Skoda Fabia
to leverage on its popularity. We will introduce Skoda Fabia Combi
(estate version) and the tallboy Roomster models to consolidate the
brand in the Indian market. We will also showcase the Fabia Rally car,
though it will not be available for retail sale," Skoda's head (sales
and marketing) Thomas Kuehl said.
Skoda,
the maker of premium cars, is among the few auto makers whose sales
have increased in the domestic market when total auto sales have
declined due to the financial meltdown. Its sales grew 22% to 11,309
cars in the April-December period. Fabia is its largest selling brand and the company sold over 7,000 cars in 2008, the first year of its launch.
Currently, Skoda Fabia is assembled at Skoda's Aurangabad facility that will move to Volkswagen's upcoming plant at Pune in Maharashtra in April-May. Skoda will also launch the next generation models of sedans Superb and Laura in the next few months.
"We
have finalised plans to launch the next generation Skoda Superb in
India and the new Skoda Laura will hit the market in the middle of 2009.
We want to remain the segment leader in the Rs 10-25 lakh bracket," Mr
Kuehl said.
Skoda India will also venture into the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment with the launch of its Yeti model in early 2010, expected to be priced around Rs 10 lakh. It will expand its dealership network to 60 this year. In a bid to augment spare part supplies from its European facilities, Skoda has set up a warehouse at Aurangabad at an investment of Rs 12 crore.
The new sports car, Skoda Fabia Sportline, will have newly-designed interiors and alloy wheels. Skoda Fabia
will be fired by a powerful 1800-cc engine to cater to the growing
demand for sports vehicles. The existing Skoda Fabia range comes with
1200-1600 cc engine capacity."We will launch multiple variants of the Skoda Fabia
to leverage on its popularity. We will introduce Skoda Fabia Combi
(estate version) and the tallboy Roomster models to consolidate the
brand in the Indian market. We will also showcase the Fabia Rally car,
though it will not be available for retail sale," Skoda's head (sales
and marketing) Thomas Kuehl said.Skoda,
the maker of premium cars, is among the few auto makers whose sales
have increased in the domestic market when total auto sales have
declined due to the financial meltdown. Its sales grew 22% to 11,309
cars in the April-December period. Fabia is its largest selling brand and the company sold over 7,000 cars in 2008, the first year of its launch.Currently, Skoda Fabia is assembled at Skoda's Aurangabad facility that will move to Volkswagen's upcoming plant at Pune in Maharashtra in April-May. Skoda will also launch the next generation models of sedans Superb and Laura in the next few months.
"We
have finalised plans to launch the next generation Skoda Superb in
India and the new Skoda Laura will hit the market in the middle of 2009.
We want to remain the segment leader in the Rs 10-25 lakh bracket," Mr
Kuehl said.Skoda India will also venture into the sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment with the launch of its Yeti model in early 2010, expected to be priced around Rs 10 lakh. It will expand its dealership network to 60 this year. In a bid to augment spare part supplies from its European facilities, Skoda has set up a warehouse at Aurangabad at an investment of Rs 12 crore.
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