Skoda Auto, the completely owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, is aiming to record a growth of 50 per cent in 2012 in the Indian market. Mentioning the customers who booked a Skoda car, Thomas Kuehl, Head, Skoda Auto India, said, "We have brought down the waiting period from over four months to two months. On the Rapid, we were producing 2,000 units in February and will take it up to 3,000 in March."
Skoda introduced its sedan, Rapid, in the Indian auto market late last year, which helped it attain high sales. Rapid is an entry level sedan from the company's car portfolio which is surely grabbing the attention of auto enthusiasts. Following this, the sales of Rapid recorded by Skoda for February 2012 has been registered 2204 units. Thomas further added that the company is also planning to soon launch its new sedan, 2012 Superb, in the Indian market.
Jurgen Stackmann, the Board Member for Sales and Marketing of Skoda, mentioned in a press conference that continuing business operations in the Indian market are pivotal for the company. He further added, "The Indian market is very important for Skoda. We hope Skoda India will continue on the successful path of the past ten years and expand its favourable market position further."
Apart from domestic sales, Skoda also plans to attain minimum global sales of 1.5 million vehicles by the end of 2018. To achieve this target, Skoda will lay emphasis on launching new cars for consecutive 2-3 years. In order to plan at least two launch ceremonies a year, the company will be required to make huge investments which will thereby bring the estimated sales growth of Skoda.
The combined sales of Skoda India for January and February 2012 has been recorded 6781 units that remained parallel to sales growth of 29 per cent during the same period in 2011. During 2011, the company sold around 30,005 vehicles in the Indian market that marked 50 percent sales growth, and it also grabbed 1.31 per cent share in the market.
As far as global prospective of Skoda is concerned, the company expects 60 per cent sales from the auto industry of Africa, China, Russia, India and others. However, this estimation is currently not in tune with company's sales, as it reaped 60 per cent from Europe and 40 per cent from other parts of the world. Globally, Skoda sold around 879,200 units in 2011, which is highest in a single year driving sales growth to 15 per cent. In 2012, the overall sales for January stood around 75,400 units equating to sales growth of 10.2 per cent in MOM comparison.
In India, Skoda Superb leads its segment and the Laura is placed in the third position. Moreover, the overall sales of Fabia, hatchback, doubled last year and Yeti, Sports Utility Vehicle, also marked impressive growth.
