Czech car maker Skoda elaborated on its plans to crack the Indian market after it was recently tasked with leading the development of future Volkswagen Group cars for India. At the centre of Skoda's 'India 2.0’ project is the India specific MQB A0-IN platform, which will spawn models for both VW and Skoda models. The company is targeting a localization level of over 90% in an effort to boost the cost effectiveness of its vehicles, which have traditionally been positioned at a premium in the Indian market.
Notably, the company aims to grow its market share between both VW and Skoda brands to 5 percent by 2025, up from 1.9% currently. Autocar India reported about the company's plans to expand market share back in September 2017. Skoda and VW have found it difficult to crack the Indian market, which is dominated by Maruti Suzuki. Its plans to form an alliance with car makers too hasn't materialized; the alliance with local player Tata Motors was called off and the partnership with Suzuki, too, met a similar fate.
Admitting that the company hasn't achieved grown as
per its expectations, Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier said, "The VW group has
struggled to achieve its growth targets in India and we accept it. The VW Group
must have other ambitions in India, which is why we came up with India
2.0."
