Car News in India

Skoda Auto from the house of Volkswagen is planning to plunge into the small car segment with a compact hatchback that will compete with the Honda ‘Jazz’ and other cars from the makers of Ford and Toyota.

This will be Skoda’s entry level car for India and it is expected to come into the market by 2010 with the prize tag ranging between Rs 3 to 5 Lakh (ex-showroom). 2010 will see Skoda’s small car enter a segment that will, by the time of its launch, have an ocean of competitors with their own foreign cars flooding the Indian small car market.

The company is also on the line of expanding their product portfolio with various new models. The recently launched ‘Fabia’ will roll out this year. The other project they have in their list is the launch of the “Yeti” in the SUV segment by the end of 2009. At present, the company is concentrating on the SUV market and is expected to double its dealership and sales in 2008 from the 12,000 cars sold in 2007. The ‘Fabia’ was launched under the price tag of Rs. 5 Lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) to compete with the top end models of the Maruti Swift and Hyundai Getz.