The Hindu Business Line : Skoda to bring in Octavia Rider in May

CZECH automaker Skoda Auto has decided to replace its flagship brand in India, Octavia with a new model, the feature-rich Octavia Rider which will be launched in end-May.

"It will be a busy year for us as we will launch new variants and replace Octavia with Octavia Rider," Skoda Auto Director for Marketing, Mr Bipin Datar, told Business Line. He said the new Octavia Rider, which will have far more features than the existing model, will be repositioned as a high end model in the executive segment.

Mr Datar said there will not be any changes in the pricing of Octavia which ranges between Rs 10.6 lakh and Rs 12.3 lakh. He said the company will launch an automatic version of the 1.9 lt diesel engine Octavia Rider and a more powerful 1.8 lt 146 bhp model will be launched in petrol version by July this year. This model will eventually replace the existing 2 lt, 111 bhp petrol version. From October, all Octavia models will be Euro 3 compliant. He said Laurent & Klement which was released recently has an order backlog of four weeks.

Mr Datar said Skoda plans to launch newer variants of Octavia Rider over a period of time to match the changing needs of customers. "We will keep offering newer variants with value additions based on the feedback from customers," he said. He said Skoda expects to increase its sales to around 8,500 units during the current calendar year from 4,656 in 2003. The dealership network too will be increased to 42 from 35. Skoda plans to start export of Octavia Rider to Nepal and Sri Lanka by the end of the year.

Skoda Auto has set a sales target of around 40,000 cars by the fifth year with the local content in Skoda models expected to go up to 60 per cent from 42 per cent currently. At present, Skoda carries out CKD operations at its new plant in Aurangabad which was inaugurated in February.

Skoda is also gearing up to make fresh investments in its Indian operations as most of the investments worth around $56 million earmarked up to 2007 has nearly been exhausted. Skoda plans to move towards manufacturing the entire car in its plant in a phased manner. Once the sales touches the 40,000 mark, a paint shop and a body shop will be set up.

The auto maker also plans to unveil a high-torque low emission "pumpe duse" (PD) diesel engine which gives increased mileage. The extremely fuel efficient engine can give up to 26 km per litre. Some of the new models like Superb will have the PD (unit injector) engines and compete with the common-rail direct injection engines popularised by Hyundai.