Skoda Announces 4 New Cars For India; Significant After Sales Initiatives

The second initiative is to address the negative perception that Skoda has in the after sales area. Starting now, all Skoda cars will have a standard 4-year/100,000 warranty across all models. Roadside assistance will also now be available for 4 years at no extra cost. Skoda Service Care will be the next big pillar the new strategy stands on. This includes what Skoda is calling Menu Pricing.

This means repair charges will be uniform across the country and customers will be able to select the service they want from a basket of services on offer. All service and repairs will be backed by an itemized service invoice. Skoda says cars will be delivered post servicing on the same day that it comes in for regular maintenance/service and says if it cannot do so it will pick up the tab on the service.

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Of the Rs. 100 crore investment laid out by Skoda - 60 per cent has already been spent to get all the aforementioned initiatives rolled out and in place. But the balance will be spent over the next few months to ensure the complete delivery of this new strategy - including a strong communication on all of this to the consumer. And finally Skoda has also launched an app for its car owners. The MySkoda App will allow owners to access their car's service history, as well as all data and facts related to their car. They will also be able to book service appointments and call for roadside assistance.

The question is whether all of this will translate to a change in perception Skoda has garnered over the years of being pricey and lacking services. Skoda India MD Sudhir Rao says that it will not be easy to unwind the perception that's gradually built up over 15 years. But Skoda is hoping to have a significant shift in its position over the next 6 months. It says it will close the 2016 calendar year with just over 15,000 units sold (similar to 2015). But in 2017 its target sales over 20,000 units - which it says will only grow in the future, as the new products get better entrenched in the market.