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Manu P. Toms

Mumbai, May 2 The New Superb, the successor of Skoda’s luxury model the Superb, will be launched in India next year. It’s part of Skoda India’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the luxury D-plus segment, which is. currently dominated by Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi.

“The New Superb will be launched in Europe in October this year. Following this, we will introduce it in India sometime next year. This will help us increase our sales in D segment as the new model will have many USPs,” Mr Thomas Kuehl, Member, Board of Directors, Skoda India, told Business Line.

About pricing, Mr Kuehl said “We are placing it on the same lines of the Superb.”. The Superb is currently priced Rs 19.89 lakh. The New Superb will be available in both diesel and petrol variants.

Skoda has established its position in B and C segments through Fabia and Octavia. Super hatch Fabia which was launched at the Auto Expo in January has fuelled a significant rise in Skoda’s sales.

The company’s April sales of 1,814 cars include 834 units of the Fabia. “The Octavia and the Laura put together, we sold around 12,000 units last year. The Superb’s annual sales are around 600. Obviously, we have greater plans for the Superb,” said Mr Ashutosh Dixit, General Manager, Sales, Skoda India.

Mr Kuehl said that Skoda plans to launch a new car in India every year. “This will be either the successor of an existing model or a completely new car,” he said. The company is presently working on two models viz. Roomster and longer version of the Fabia for India. “Out of this two, one would be launched this year,” said Mr Dixit.

Skoda India unveiled its new Fabia 1.2 petrol version in Mumbai on Friday.

The new variant comes with 1,198 cc petrol engine with high torque performance.

The price of the three variants of the new Fabia 1.2 petrol ranges from Rs 4.86 lakh to Rs 5.80 lakh. “The Fabia 1.2 petrol will have the lowest fuel consumption in the segment,” said Mr Kuehl.

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