Amit Saraswat 
Skoda Auto India held a press conference revealing its plan for the coming years. Skoda’s 2.0 plan has turned out to be a big success since the carmaker managed to sell over 1,00,000 vehicles in 2 years, majority of which was driven by the Kushaq SUV and Slavia sedan.
Skoda is now doubling down on the SUV body style with an upcoming sub-compact SUV. The details are scarce at this point apart from the basics like the localised MQB-A0-IN platform and 1.0L TSI powertrain, which is likely to be the only option for the entry-level Skoda SUV.
Skoda seems confident with the upcoming sub-compact SUV based on the forecast of selling over 1,00,000 units of the SUV in the first year itself, which is 2026. Skoda will launch the new SUV towards the beginning of 2025 and it will measure under 4 metres in length. As a result, it will rub its shoulders against other sub-compact SUVs like the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet and Tata Nexon.
Since Skoda has confirmed that it will be taking benefit from the sub-4-metre slab taxation benefits, it’s evident from Skoda to use the smaller 1.0L TSI petrol engine, which also powers the Slavia and Kushaq. Skoda has also started training its staff and service technicians for the upcoming SUV and is targeting mainly the tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Since Skoda also enjoys a robust 95% localisation for its current MQB-A0-IN offerings, the new sub-compact SUV should be competitively priced.
Coming to the interesting part, Skoda has not yet finalised the name for the upcoming SUV. Rather, the carmaker has come up with an interesting marketing practice — letting the customers decide what it should be called. Furthermore, Skoda also revealed interesting details about the current portfolio that the carmaker has on offer. It is interesting to note that 50% of the Skoda cars that are built outside of the Czech Republic come from India. In addition, the carmaker aims to boost its production capacity by 30%, which should enable it to reach the targeted 5% market share by 2030.
