ŠKODA AUTO CEO Bernhard Maier and Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of ŠKODA AUTO India Private Ltd, announced details of the ‘INDIA 2.0’ project at a press conference in New Delhi today.
Going forward ŠKODA AUTO is responsible for leading Volkswagen Group’s planned model campaign on the Indian market. Volkswagen Group is investing one billion euros into the implementation of the project, primarily between 2019 and 2021. To ensure closest-possible proximity to the market, a project centre is being set up in India where, for example, vehicle development will take place.
ŠKODA AUTO CEO Bernhard Maier said, “Experts predict that in the next few years India is going to become the third-largest automotive market worldwide. With our ‘INDIA 2.0’ project we are now creating the right conditions for sustainable growth there. Our objective is ambitious, but achievable: together with the Volkswagen brand, we are seeking a market share of up to five per cent in the long term, depending on market and segment development.”
Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of ŠKODA AUTO India Private Ltd, added, “With the ‘INDIA 2.0’ project, ŠKODA AUTO and Volkswagen Group are in an excellent position to optimally confront the dynamics of the Indian car market. In India, we will offer top-class products at prices that amount to a paradigm shift in the automotive industry. We will manufacture the new products locally based on the heavily localised MQB A0 platform, which already fulfils the stricter emission and safety standards that are expected to come into force in India in 2020.”
Initially, ŠKODA AUTO is developing the sub-compact MQB A0 platform with a focus on India (MQB-A0-IN). In the second phase, ŠKODA will be assessing the possibility of exporting vehicles manufactured in India. ŠKODA and Volkswagen will develop several products based on this platform. The model campaign will begin in 2020 with an SUV.
To ensure that the planned models will fulfil the requirements of Indian customers to the utmost extent, ŠKODA AUTO is looking to be as close to the market as possible from the very start. The technical development of the new products will therefore predominantly take place in India. To this end, the car manufacturer plans to gradually create new jobs there.
