LONG GAME

Discussing Skoda's future strategies with Petr Solc, Brand Director, Skoda Auto India

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With India becoming the third largest market for Skoda, will you continue to focus on new localised cars or will you bring in more premium products?

Our strategy is going to be a mix of both. There will be cars based on our localised platform and products from our international portfolio that are suitable for India will continue.

How different is the Indian market in terms of selling cars, compared to Russia where you have just come from?

Around the world, customers want value, hassle-free ownership, ease of maintenance combined with some coherent qualities typical of the Škoda brand like safety, solidity, driving dynamics.

Some markets are uniform in terms of terrain, climate, fuel, and there are others where there are vast differences in geography, which have to be accounted for. That apart, whatever be the market, the need for value, quality, safety and a great ownership experience is universal and that is what we always strive to offer.

The Kushaq has just aced the Global NCAP crash tests for child and adult safety both. Was this part of the plan while engineering the SUV?