Skoda will spearhead the Volkswagen Group’s Vision 2.0 in India and is going through a rough patch with a bit higher than 1,000 units sold in August
Skoda, the Czech automaker has been in India for a while now and has some brilliant products to offer. But the weak dealership network and high after-sales costs never really helped the brand to realize the full potential. The same is the case with Volkswagen, one of the world’s largest automaker and the parent company of Skoda.
However, Volkswagen Group announced to initiate 2.0 strategy, led by Skoda in India. While it will take some time to shape up, the monthly sales figures are not too promising for Skoda.
In August 2019, Skoda sold a combined of just 1,164 units, against 1,330 units last year same month, resulting in a drop of 12 percent. On the month-on-month basis, Skoda gained 8 percent sales volume with 1,076 units displaced in July 2019.
| Models | August 2018 | August 2019 |
| Skoda Rapid | 817 Units | 719 Units |
| Skoda Octavia | 239 Units | 151 Units |
| Skoda Superb | 144 Units | 118 Units |
| Skoda Kodiaq | 130 Units | 104 Units |
Source: AutoPunditz
Skoda sells four models in India and none of them posted positive sales growth last month. The biggest decline was recorded by Octavia sedan with 37 percent degrowth, having sold only 151 units in August as compared to 239 units last year. On M-o-M basis, Octavia lost 23 percent ground, having sold 196 units in July 2019.
Next up is the Kodiaq SUV with 20 percent dip, selling 104 units against 130 units last year. However, as compared to July 2019, Kodiaq gained 32 percent, with 79 units sold. The flagship Superb sedan recorded 18 percent decline, with 118 units as against 144 units. In July, 94 units were sold, which means Superb gained 26 percent.
Lastly, the affordable Rapid sedan suffered only a 3 percent decline with 719 units sold as against 817 units last year. It gained on M-o-M basis with 12 percent growth, having sold 707 units.
As for the Indian auto industry as a whole, it is going through a major slump and recorded a 31 percent sales slump in August 2019. Almost all the car brands registered negative growth. A total of 1,95,558 units were sold in August 2019 as compared to 2,82,809 units in August 2018.