Skoda has temporarily suspended production in their manufacturing plants in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. The brand is also evaluating new launch dates for its upcoming cars that had already started pre-booking before the lockdown due to the virus spread was initiated. The brand has also shut down plants in the Czech Republic located at Mladá Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí which are scheduled to be resumed from 6th April depending on the situations. Skoda Auto had opened pre-bookings on the Skoda Karoq SUV, the Skoda Rapid 1.0-TSI and the Skoda Octavia RS245 before the nationwide lockdown was imposed due to the CoronaVirus outbreak.
The Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI had also commenced pre-bookings with the refundable price of INR 50,000 at all Skoda authorised dealerships in India and the deliveries to pre-booked customers from 14th April. Skoda in February 2020 at the Auto Expo in Delhi showcased the Skoda Rapid in its Matte Concept and Monte Carlo avatar equipped with a 1.0 TSI petrol engine.
Skoda Karoq SUV which was revealed at the Auto Expo 2020 in India was open for pre-bookings with a refundable booking fee of INR 50,000 across all Skoda dealerships in India. The Karoq is scheduled for deliveries from 6th of May 2020, but this date is likely to be postponed as the Skoda Karoq is expected to come to India via the CBU (completely built-up unit) route.
Similarly, on the 1st of March 2020 at 12 noon through a centralized online platform, Skoda Auto India commenced bookings on the Skoda RS 245 with a booking fee of INR 1 lakh. Skoda Auto India will only be selling 200 units of the Octavia RS245 and is considered to be one of the most exclusive performance cars in the country available at a relatively affordable price of INR 35.99 lakhs.
Other than the above mentioned cars, the brand is also expected to launch the Skoda Superb facelift and the BS6 compliant Kodiaq SUV that was showcased at their pavilion at the Auto Expo 2020 with a 2.0-litre TSI petrol engine.
The temporary closure of Skoda’s international production plants is likely to hamper the supply chain due to which the delivery dates could be postponed to a later date. More information on the launch and delivery schedules are expected to be officially announced by the brand as the health situations normalise.