Saar: In 2017, Skoda Auto India registered a growth of 30 per cent over 2016 by selling 17,436 vehicles.

Czech carmaker, Skoda, is eyeing for a growth rate ranging between 8-10 per cent this year over 2017. This short-term goal takes into account the company serving the premium segments only. That said, Volkswagen Group, which owns Skoda Auto, has aligned it to carve out a strategy to enter the volume segments as well. Reports have emerged that Skoda Auto India will put for the proposal of six potential products for India to decision makers at Volkswagen Group. Needless to say, the platform of those volume segment products will be shared between Skoda and Volkswagen India.

Ashutosh Dixit, who is the director of sales and marketing at Skoda Auto India, reportedly said:

“In 2017, the company sold 17,436 units, a growth of 30 per cent over 2016. In 2018, we are looking at a growth rate of 8-10 per cent.”

The reason for lower growth rate projection in 2018 is due to the higher base of sales numbers that the company managed to sell in 2017. Those high numbers were courtesy of the new Skoda Rapid sedan and the introduction of the company’s first-ever SUV, the Kodiaq. The Skoda Octavia, which also saw its variant list expanding with the RS, contributed significantly to the company’s Indian operations.

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Apart from this, Dixit pointed out that Skoda Auto India has been feeling the relentless pinching of higher customs duty on imported components. That duty went up by 5 per cent in the latest budget. Dixit, in his own words, reportedly said:

“We import a lot of auto components from outside India and the duty has pushed up costs on an average by 3-4 percent. Plans are there to raise up to four per cent in phases.”

This, however, was just a reconfirmation what the company mentioned during its last price hike. From March 1, 2018, Skoda Auto India hiked the prices by 1 per cent, which meant an increase of Rs 10,000 to Rs 35,000 across the product range. When the next price hike will happen, which as per Dixit is inevitable, remains to be seen.