STARTING ON A HIGH

In conversation with Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Skoda India

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What are your immediate priorities for Škoda, let's say, if you were to list down the top three?

The first thing is that with us getting into a mass segment now with the Kylaq, we need to define our strategy. We need to be very clear on what our strategy pillars are, which are relevance, differentiation and trust. You have to stick to them and be consistent. So that's the first priority for me. The second is to get the dealer network up and running. The dealer network is up, but needs a little bit of a push to start running, because we have added 60 or 70 outlets in the last six months. It takes a bit of time for them to get efficient, to learn the tricks of the grade, to get manpower onboard and up to speed. So that's, I think, the second priority. And third is to have a future orientation. We can always get lost in operational stuff and what we need to do today, but you need to have a view of the future.

What according to you have been the biggest pillars of support for Škoda over the past 25 years?

I think what has actually helped Škoda build a legacy in India is been the initial lot of products that were brought into the country. In fact, those were also among the first premium cars to be introduced and helped Škoda establish itself as a brand with European values, European engineering and also providing a lot of value. That's a legacy which has continued and is helping us right now as well.

You're now heading the lead brand for Volkswagen Group in India. Looking back at the last five years, including the pandemic, how do you think things have progressed for the group?