Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Private Limited (SAVWIPL), has announced the commencement of its exports program with the start of the shipment of the Made-in-India Kushaq LHD (left-hand-drive). The Kushaq is the first-ever locally-built Skoda model to be exported from India. The first consignment of Kushaq LHD SUVs is headed to Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC) countries. Earlier this year, SAVWIPL had commenced the export of India 2.0 cars with the Volkswagen Taigun SUV, followed by the Volkswagen Virtus sedan in September.
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Commenting on the occasion, Mr Piyush Arora, Managing Director, ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited said, “It’s a proud moment for the team in India as a ŠKODA model joins the Group’s export line-up. The ŠKODA KUSHAQ is the third Made-in-India car to be exported this year, and we are happy that the Group’s endeavor to ‘Engineer cars in India to be Driven by the World’ is experiencing remarkable success. The market acceptance and success of all our exports highlight our global quality standards. The KUSHAQ is built in line with our customer’s requirements in India and globally, and we are confident that this stylish, well-equipped, robust and engaging-to-drive SUV will open doors to new markets and regions for SAVWIPL.”
Skoda Kushaq: A quick recap
The Kushaq is currently priced between ₹11.29 lakh and ₹18.79 lakh ex-showroom and goes up against the likes of Volkswagen Taigun, Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. The Kushaq was recently updated with new features. The new updated features include a new headliner in the cabin and Tyre Pressure Monitoring System as standard across the range. Now, all variants that are powered by the 1.0 TSI will get the Start-Stop Recuperation system as standard. The updated Kushaq will deliver 7-9% more fuel efficiency. The cabin features a new 20.32cm Škoda Infotainment System with knobs and buttons for select functions for increased ergonomics and ease of use for the driver. As a part of this update, Non-Sunroof (NSR) Style trim has also been introduced. This new variant will be based on the 1.0 TSI Style and will come with a 4-dial medium analogue instrument cluster and comes exclusively with the 6-speed manual transmission. While The top-of-the-line Style variant with sunroof gets a 20.32 cm Škoda Virtual Cockpit for the driver’s instrument console in place of analogue dials.