Skoda Auto Volkswagen India (SAVWIPL) has inaugurated its Parts Expedition Centre (PEC). This is located at the company’s headquarters at Chakan, Pune. The aim of this new centre is to facilitate the carmaker’s export operations primarily amongst the ASEAN region.
This facility measures 16,800 square metre. The first country to benefit will be Vietnam, starting from 2024. The made-in-India kits will be exported to Vietnam where final assembly will take place.
While Vietnam will mark the first phase of the PEC, the German conglomerate expects to bring in other countries as well. Alongside, the PEC will further improve the synergies between India and Vietnam.
Skoda is planning to start the export operations from the PEC with two models – the Kushaq SUV and the Slavia sedan. Both of these models are currently produced from the Pune plant. While the Kushaq was launched in 2021, the Slavia came in one year later. Both these models are based on the MQB-A0-IN platform that has been specifically made for the Indian market. Both these aforementioned models will be exported as a CKD kit (completely knocked down)
Both the Slavia and the Kushaq are based on Skoda’s made for India MQB-A0-IN platform. This comes under the India 1.0 project of Skoda-Volkswagen. Thanks to this, Skoda has had its largest year in 2022. Infact, 2023 also marked the year when the company exported 600,000th made-in-India unit.
Skoda is offering the Kushaq and Slavia with a choice of 1.0-litre or 1.5-litre turbo petrol engines. Both of these are paired with manual and automatic options. While the former comes with 6-speed torque converter gearbox, the latter is paired with a 7-speed dual clutch automatic. Meanwhile, the manual duties are handled by a 6-speed manual transmission on both the engines.
Both these aforementioned cars are 5-star rated by GNCAP for adults as well as children. With this, Skoda’s entire line-up consists of 5-star rated models including the Kodiaq, Kushaq and Slavia.
Also Read – Skoda Kushaq & Salvia variants get 10” touchscreen.