With the introduction of Kushaq midsize SUV and Slavia sedan passing muster as the safest vehicles on Indian roads, Skoda Auto has revealed its plans to bring in India’s safest small SUV and also an EV in the future as part of its vision to expand market share.
The European car major claims that all its vehicles sold since 2008 have been five-star rated and cleared stringent European safety norms.
In line with the Indian government’s safety vision, the Czech carmaker intends to build its safe vehicle portfolio in the future.
Petr Solc, the brand head of Skoda in India, says safety has been the company’s USP or unique selling proposition over the years, which it is now proactively communicating to prospective Indian buyers of the brand.
“Unlike the past, the key buying criteria for increasing the number of Indian buyers has moved away from price or features to safety and our products fit the requirement. We are adopting a parallel track for future products, which ranges from locally produced models, assembly of parts and components and fully built imports to offer best of global standards to Indian buyers and we aim to raise the bar on safety going ahead,” added Solc.
Even as Skoda cars were always safer for Indian roads, this push towards promoting the critical safety narrative is happening at a time when homegrown carmakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra’s attempt to proactively promote the five-star rating in their vehicles has helped them gain popularity with prospective buyers in the last few years.
The Skoda Kushaq midsize SUV and the Slavia midsize sedan have both aced the Global NCAP crash test, scoring a full five-star rating for adult and child occupants under the updated safety test protocol. And the Kodiaq SUV has also received a five-star rating for adults and children in Euro NCAP crash tests.
Skoda Auto India is displaying the car body or sheet metal at various dealerships to educate prospective buyers on the elements behind safety.
Skoda’s brand director says that beyond the body shell, the company will be proactively adding a slew of active and passive safety features including ADAS and lane departure warnings in the future.
Christian Cahn von Seelen, Executive Director, Sales, Marketing and Digital, Škoda Auto Volkswagen India says: “It is not just about number of features or airbags in the car . . . it is the expertise of engineering these features into millions of cars globally that has been implemented into the cars in India which differentiates the Group from the others. The safety incorporated in the design, development and decision-making stage of engineering.”
Last week, at NATRAX in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Skoda Auto India had organized the ‘Safer With Škoda’ Track Day to showcase active safety features and braking manoeuvres. Skoda Auto India will continue with its “no-compromise drive towards safety,” assured the management. The company already tops safety charts among made-in-India cars in Global NCAP crash tests and its India 2.0 cars are developed from the ground up with extra emphasis on safety.
While the locally produced small SUV – internally codenamed SK216 – is scheduled for the launch in the second half of 2024, the locally produced EV is still under study.