Skoda’s sub-four-metre model will be part of India 3.0 project that will begin following the successful completion of India 2.0 in the domestic market
Skoda Auto India took up the charge for the India 2.0 project as part of Volkswagen Group’s recovery phase in the domestic market with heft investment. The first product coming out the new strategy is a mid-size SUV that will rival Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Tata Harrier, MG Hector, Nissan Kicks and others in the hotly contested space.
The mid-size SUV will be shared with Skoda and Volkswagen as the former will be based on Vision IN concept while the latter was showcased at the 2020 Auto Expo as the near-production Taigun. Both the SUVs will have several commonalities, but have their own distinctive characteristics, unlike the plain rebadged cars.
They will be underpinned by the MQB A0 IN platform with high local content helping in pricing them competitively against rivals as pricing is key in luring in new customers. The architecture will give rise to B-segment sedans that will act as replacements to the Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid sometime later next year or in 2022.
According to reports, Skoda is also working on a sub-four-metre SUV to garner high volume sales, which will compete against Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Ford EcoSport and Mahindra XUV300. It will only be part of India 3.0 project, said Bernhard Maier, Chief Executive Officer, Skoda.
It will only be launched following the successful completion of India 2.0 project during the course of 2023 or as early as late 2022. VW Group is investing more than Rs. 8,000 crore in the ambitious India 2.0 as the Skoda mid-size SUV will likely look a lot like the Kamiq and the Taigun name could be retained for the Volkswagen five-seater premium SUV.
What has been codenamed Skoda ANB is the mid-size sedan and it will arrive towards the end of next year before VW’s Vento replacement the following year with commonalities similar to the existing Rapid and Vento. We can expect the Skoda compact SUV to be offered as a premium package with wide engine choices and a long equipment list.