After sales plummeted to a five-year low, Czech manufacturer and part of the VW group, Skoda Auto has finally decided to transform the force behind its operations in India. The car maker, who took off on a rather successful note when it initially started with the Octavia, took a few steps backwards when customers started complaining of poor after sales service and expensive spares. However, they are adamant on making amends this time by replacing their workforce that drives sales, marketing, finance and human resource functions.
Even their business model will be renovated to make it more sustainable, a strategy that will sacrifice on volumes in the short term to make the business more profitable. In order to position the company as a value luxury brand, Skoda could even dish out incentives for car buyers at the cost of taking a dent in margins, diverting all their attention towards customer satisfaction.
As part of the rejig, Ashutosh Dixit has been appointed as the new director for sales, marketing and service, Tarun Jha, who was previously stationed at the company headquarters will now head marketing and Rajagopalan Paliyath will take lead as the new HR head. Skoda Auto India managing director Sudhir Rao confirmed the development, stating that the change is part of a larger strategy that will bolster the fundamentals of the organisation and offer a renewed approach to the future.
Skoda has already discontinued the Fabia, as it was losing money on every car that was sold here and has also cut down on its branding and marketing budget, diverting all its wealth towards customer satisfaction. Like Toyota, even Skoda isn’t keen to launch any new products this year and will only get the new Superb here in 2016, along with a Rapid face lift. They are also exploring the possibility of launching a locally made Fabia along with a premium SUV.