Skoda Auto India sold more cars in six months of this year than it did in the whole of last year, helped by new launches such as the Kushaq and Slavia.
The company sold 28,899 units in the January to June period, as against the 2021 tally of 23,858 units. With sales of a little over 6,000 units, June was the best-ever month for the company.
This year’s tally for Skoda is divided equally between sports utility vehicles (SUV) and sedans, bending the broader market trend, where sedans have been wiped out by high demand for SUVs. Skoda sells three sedans, Octavia, Superb and Slavia and three SUVs, Kushaq, Kushaq Monte Carlo and Kodiaq.
A senior executive added that the company is on course to sell 60,000 units in 2022, which will be more than double the sales it clocked in 2021. With the commencement of the third shift at its Pune factory, the brand is targeting double-digit growth in sales for 2023.
Zac Hollis, Brand Director, Skoda Auto India, said, “We are traditionally a very strong sedan player in India. It shows the strength of the brand as a sedan player in the market. We have a manageable waiting period of three months and a good order bank. We will have a full year next year of the Slavia and I don’t see why we cannot grow sales in double digits.”
On the distribution front, last month Skoda hit 205+ customer touchpoints from 175 in December 2021. The company has now reset its projections to 250 customer touchpoints for 2022, over the previously set 225 touchpoints.