Skoda India to hike prices of all models
The recent revision of custom duties by the Government of India for the 2018 Union Budget is beginning to affect car makers, especially those relying on their foreign operations for bringing components and parts into India for assembly. Skoda India is set to increase prices of its cars in India from March 1, 2018, owing to the latest revisions to custom duties by the Government of India. The price hike will be applicable to all Skoda products in India, including the Skoda Rapid, Skoda Octavia, Skoda Superb and Skoda Kodiaq. For now, Skoda will increase prices only by 1 percent, which means that depending on the model prices will go up by Rs 10,000 to Rs 35,000 for now. In the near future, pricing will go up by 3 percent to 4 percent depending on the car and its variant.
Skoda currently imports engines and gearboxes into India for the Octavia, Superb and Kodiaq, which are then assembled at its plant at Aurangabad in Maharashtra. On the other hand, the Rapid is manufactured at the Volkswagen India plant at Chakan near Pune. Apart from the price hike, Skoda has also announced a loyalty bonus of up to Rs 50,000 for existing owners wanting to buy a new Skoda car. 2017 saw Skoda India go on a product offensive, as it launched the refreshed Octavia and the Octavia RS, as also its brand new flagship product, the Kodiaq SUV in India. The Czech car maker has also been focusing extensively on enhancing its image as far as after-sales service is concerned and announced highly attractive hassle-free service packages for all its models last year.