Unlike in Europe, Skoda is positioned as a premium brand in India, thanks to the old Octavia’s solid build quality and stellar performance. The VW-owned car maker somehow lost its initial momentum it had in our market and is looking to regain the same brand equity and some more.
Product-wise, Skoda has always met the expectations from demanding customers but a better overall ownership experience would go a long way in attracting more buyers. That’s exactly what Skoda India is up to with its India 2.0 strategy.
As a part of the new strategy, the Czech automaker has completely redesigned its entire sales and service network to achieve better functionality and premium appeal.
The standardized layout of a dealership has been revamped to have a logical arrangement of all the key elements. The new theme follows the philosophy which Skoda says is “simply clever with a human touch”. Further enhancement to the customer experience comes from increased digitization and usage of modern tools. For example, the MySkoda App acts as a single-window interface between the customer and company. One can schedule a service appointment, configure park assist, browse the accessories shop, use Drive Tribe, estimate service cost, access service history with itemized billing, etc.
In a bid to improve aftersales service which plays a major part in shaping the overall ownership experience, Skoda India has come up with several initiatives. An AI chat bot which works 24×7, digitized job-sheet generation (iService), and Packaging Pricing System Online (calculates accurate repair costs based on the vehicle specification, standard labor charges, parts pricing, etc) are being implemented.
Skoda also has introduced Auto Part, an automated spare part ordering system for the dealerships to ensure the timely availability of required components for repairs. That’s not all! The company continues to offer 4 year/100,00 km warranty and an optional 4 year/60,000 km maintenance package.
All this is part of the Skoda Project 2.0 for India. Along with VW, Skoda will invest Rs 8,000 crores here, to improve sales, service and launch new cars. The first new car based on this new project, will be a Skoda SUV, which will be launched in 2020. It will be a rival to the likes of Hyundai Creta, and the upcoming Tata Harrier H5X, Maruti Suzuki Vitara.
