Skoda To Hike Prices Across Range From March 1

Skoda has announced that it will increase prices across its entire model range by up to Rs 35,000 from March 1. The reason behind the move, the Czech carmaker says, is to pass on the impact of the increase in custom duties announced in the Union budget 2018. However, to soften the blow, it will increase prices in a phased manner.

“Effective from March 1, Skoda Auto will only increase prices by 1 per cent which translates to an increase of Rs 10,000 to Rs 35,000 across the entire model range,” said Skoda India in a statement issued yesterday.

After that, the carmaker intends to hike prices by 3 per cent to 4 per cent depending on the product and variant. Finance minister Arun Jaitley increased custom duty on CKD (completely knocked down) imports of cars, bikes and related components from 10 per cent to 15 per cent in the Union budget for the financial year 2018-19. We expect other carmakers to announce price hikes soon as well.

Currently, Skoda sells cars such as the Rapid, Octavia, Superb and the Kodiaq SUV. These cars are priced between Rs 8.32 lakh and Rs 34.5 lakh (ex-showroom). None of these cars are 100 per cent localised products, especially the Kodiaq, which is imported to the country as knocked down kits to be assembled here. We expect it to release the Karoq (pictured below) as a replacement for the now discontinued Yeti in the market later this year.

Apart from the announcement, Skoda also introduced a loyalty bonus of Rs 50,000 for existing customers who are looking to buy another car from its portfolio. This is likely to encourage customers to opt for a second Skoda car before the price hike kicks in.