Skoda India is now taking charge of developing cars specific to the Indian market. And not just for brand Skoda, Skoda will also play a key role in development of Volkswagen cars for India. This initiative is being dubbed as ‘India 2.0’ project and the brands have shared more details. Skoda currently finds their cars being very well accepted in each and every segment, and want to develop more mass market cars to get a larger chunk of market share in India.
From now, all cars designed & product locally here in India, for India, will be based on the Volkswagen MQB chassis. This architecture already fulfils the requirements legally and with respect to crash tests which will be enforced in 2020. Also, the MQB A0 platform, which we also know as MQB-A0-IN will be now under the wings of Skoda. So Skoda literally is leading the way for the Volkswagen group in terms of cars being developed in India, for India, and eventually for exports from India. Skoda reveals that they are working in full swing for the development of new models across new segments in India. The first Skoda car based on the A0-IN chassis will be out by 2020.
With MQB being used on a large scale, with standardised components & production processes; the development cost will be reduced. Also, the production time is expected to be optimised. The MQB chassis will also more flexibility for the brand to develop new cars based on it.
Skoda India currently retails the Rapid, Octavia, Superb & Kodiaq in India. Ever since the Fabia was discontinued, Skoda has not ventured in the hatchback space, or anything under the Rapid segment in India.