Skoda reveals future plans, pre-owned business in sight

Skoda is all set to get into the pre-owned vehicle business. The official announcement and details, however, are expected in a few weeks’ time. Also, new Octavia and Kodiaq are scheduled to be launched in the first quarter of 2021.

On the sidelines of the Rapid AT launch, Skoda revealed its plans to get into the pre-owned vehicle business. Speaking to the media at a virtual round table conference, Zac Hollis, Director Sales, Service and Marketing, Skoda Auto India, revealed that an official announcement will be made in 'a few weeks’ time’. Details about the venture, like its name, the number of outlets, and more haven’t been revealed as yet, but an official announcement is expected soon. It is, however, safe to assume that you will be able to sell/buy vehicles of any brand at these outlets.

As far as future products are concerned, it is already known that the Skoda was scheduled to bring in the Kodiaq petrol towards the end of the year. But we’ve been told that the launch has been pushed forward to early 2021. Skoda also has the fourth-generation Octavia lined-up for launch in the first quarter of 2021. In fact, 2021 is once again going to be a busy one for Skoda. The production-spec Vision IN, we’ve been told, will make its global debut in the first quarter of 2021 and will be launched in India a few months later. We have earlier reported that a mid-size sedan based on the MQB A0 IN platform is also expected to be launched towards the end of next year.

Skoda is also working towards increasing its customer touchpoints across the country. The company was planning to expand to 124 dealerships by the end of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 situation, it had to revise the target to 100 outlets. Also, Skoda plans to increase its sales and service centres up to 180 by 2022.

Coming back to the Rapid, Skoda has received an incredible response for the base Rider variant. At the round table conference, we were told that this variant single-handedly accounts for nearly 30% of Rapid sales since its launch in May. In fact, Skoda has had to temporarily stop accepting bookings of the Rapid Rider variant. All existing bookings will be delivered by November-December. Meanwhile, Skoda has launched a slightly better equipped Rider Plus variant as well. The waiting period for the Rider Plus is considerably lesser.

Also Read:

Skoda Rapid: Rider Plus vs Rider, which makes better sense?

2020 Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI Automatic launched