The Hindu Business Line : Skoda introduces the Combi in 2 versions

SKODAAUTO India , a fully-owned subsidiary of SkodaAuto a.s. (part of the Volkswagen Group), on Wednesday announced the introduction of the station wagon Combi in the Indian market.

The company will be launching two variants of the Combi — L&K (named after its founders) and the RS (Rally Sport). The Combi will be available at a price of Rs 13,85,340 (RS Combi) and Rs 14,45,886 (L&K Combi) ex-showroom New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Imran Hassen, Managing Director, SkodaAuto India, said, "Currently SkodaAuto India products are present in the C+ and D segment. Now in an effort to widen the appeal of the Octavia, SkodaAuto India is launching the `Combi'."

Meanwhile, in view of increasing domestic sales, Skoda on Wednesday said it would increase its capacity beyond 30,000 units during its second phase of expansion starting June 2006.

Expansion: The company is currently undergoing an expansion to take its production capacity to 30,000 units from 15,000 units at its Aurangabad facility.

"Starting June 2006, we will undertake our second phase of capacity expansion to take it to beyond 30,000," Mr Hassen said.

The expansion spree is part of SkodaAuto India's plan to make India an export hub for the South Asian market.

"Apart from catering to the domestic market, the expansion is being made to export cars to Bangladesh also," he said. Mr Hassen said the sales of SkodaAuto India was in line to post a growth of between 35-40 per cent this year, over the 8,000 units sold in 2004, as demand for luxury cars continue to soar. The launch of the Combi is the first in the series of new launches the company has charted out over the next few months. The company will be unveiling a model on the `D5 platform' in October and Skoda Octavia on the bigger A5 platform towards the end of the year, Mr Hassen said.

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