A small car that carries big ambitions
Excited at the warm response received by the recently launched Fabia, Reinhard Jung, the 57-year-old chairman of the board of directors, SkodaAuto AS, talks to ET about his experience in India and his company’s future plans.
| Reinhard Jung Chairman of the board of directors, SkodaAuto AS |
For Reinhard Jung, the 57-year-old chairman of the board of directors, SkodaAuto AS, the 9th Auto Expo was his first exposure to the new-found Indian frenzy for automobiles. Jung started work as the head of Škoda Auto in October last year, replacing the retiring Detlef Wittig .
A mechanical engineer, Jung joined the VW Group in 1974. Following assignments in central planning at the Wolfsburg and Salzgitter plants, he was made responsible for production and logistics control at the Volkswagen brand. From 1996 to 2001, he was appointed head of the Brunswick plant. He was made President of Volkswagen de México before being appointed board member for production and logistics at the Volkswagen brand in 2004.
Excited at the warm response received by the recently launched Fabia, he talks to ET about his experience in India and his company’s future plans. Excerpts:
How do you feel being here? Have you been able to go for a drive?
Well, this is not my first visit to India. But this is the first time that I have experienced the Auto Expo. And, yes I have actually been able to drive a long distance, around 500 km sometime back. Indian roads are interesting. The stop and go situations, the harsh weather conditions and the crowd all make driving here a very interesting experience. During my drive I wanted to see, how well our cars perform on Indian roads.
How do you think the Fabia will perform in India’s crowded compact car segment?
In the premium segment we have a good market share of around 20%. But unfortunately, the volumes are quite low. To give you an idea, in Germany last year we sold around 1,15,000 cars. Here we did roughly around 12-15% of that. The Rs 5-7 lakh segment is the biggest segment here and we did not have a presence this segment.
This is contrary to China where we are doing very well because the sweet spot of the market lies in the Rs 8-9 lakh price band. Here, initially, in the first 2-3 years we will be looking at numbers of around 50,000 for the Fabia. And considering the world-class driving experience and features that Fabia offers in its segment, we are quite sure that it will do well. We have brought a very good car to India.
How many new models are you planning to launch here?
This year we plan to bring in interesting alternatives based on the Fabia. In Europe, a variant known as the Fabia Combi is very popular. It is a kind of a sport-back and we are sure that Indians would love it. Then the new Skoda Superb is slated to come here next year. And we are also contemplating bringing the Yeti as well. As for the new small car based on Volkswagen’s ‘Up’, it will take around three years for us to roll it out. You can rest assured that we will be very competitive with our launches.
How are you coordinating with your parent company, Volkswagen?
Volkswagen has already committed to invest around 410 million Euros for its new plant in Pune. Out of which, 70 million Euros would go towards manufacturing our small car, the Fabia. We plan to achieve 50% localisation in the next two years. Till now we didn’t have the volumes that would have made it conducive for us to attempt it. But with the Fabia we plan to change all that.
What do you have to say about Tata Motors’s ‘Rs 1 lakh’ car?
Before driving and experiencing the car it would be appropriate to comment on it.
Which is your favourite car?
(With a smile) Depends on the situation. Back in Prague, where the traffic situation is quite similar to India, I would rather drive the Fabia than any big car.
What have you noticed about the Indian auto industry?
Oh, it is very interesting but we have to learn more about it. It moves so quickly that moves are hard to gauge. For instance, launches such as, the ‘1 lakh’ car can make your projections go haywire. We are still trying to figure out the quirks.
A mechanical engineer, Jung joined the VW Group in 1974. Following assignments in central planning at the Wolfsburg and Salzgitter plants, he was made responsible for production and logistics control at the Volkswagen brand. From 1996 to 2001, he was appointed head of the Brunswick plant. He was made President of Volkswagen de México before being appointed board member for production and logistics at the Volkswagen brand in 2004.
Excited at the warm response received by the recently launched Fabia, he talks to ET about his experience in India and his company’s future plans. Excerpts:
How do you feel being here? Have you been able to go for a drive?
Well, this is not my first visit to India. But this is the first time that I have experienced the Auto Expo. And, yes I have actually been able to drive a long distance, around 500 km sometime back. Indian roads are interesting. The stop and go situations, the harsh weather conditions and the crowd all make driving here a very interesting experience. During my drive I wanted to see, how well our cars perform on Indian roads.
How do you think the Fabia will perform in India’s crowded compact car segment?
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In the premium segment we have a good market share of around 20%. But unfortunately, the volumes are quite low. To give you an idea, in Germany last year we sold around 1,15,000 cars. Here we did roughly around 12-15% of that. The Rs 5-7 lakh segment is the biggest segment here and we did not have a presence this segment.
This is contrary to China where we are doing very well because the sweet spot of the market lies in the Rs 8-9 lakh price band. Here, initially, in the first 2-3 years we will be looking at numbers of around 50,000 for the Fabia. And considering the world-class driving experience and features that Fabia offers in its segment, we are quite sure that it will do well. We have brought a very good car to India.
How many new models are you planning to launch here?
This year we plan to bring in interesting alternatives based on the Fabia. In Europe, a variant known as the Fabia Combi is very popular. It is a kind of a sport-back and we are sure that Indians would love it. Then the new Skoda Superb is slated to come here next year. And we are also contemplating bringing the Yeti as well. As for the new small car based on Volkswagen’s ‘Up’, it will take around three years for us to roll it out. You can rest assured that we will be very competitive with our launches.
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How are you coordinating with your parent company, Volkswagen?
Volkswagen has already committed to invest around 410 million Euros for its new plant in Pune. Out of which, 70 million Euros would go towards manufacturing our small car, the Fabia. We plan to achieve 50% localisation in the next two years. Till now we didn’t have the volumes that would have made it conducive for us to attempt it. But with the Fabia we plan to change all that.
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What do you have to say about Tata Motors’s ‘Rs 1 lakh’ car?
Before driving and experiencing the car it would be appropriate to comment on it.
Which is your favourite car?
(With a smile) Depends on the situation. Back in Prague, where the traffic situation is quite similar to India, I would rather drive the Fabia than any big car.
What have you noticed about the Indian auto industry?
Oh, it is very interesting but we have to learn more about it. It moves so quickly that moves are hard to gauge. For instance, launches such as, the ‘1 lakh’ car can make your projections go haywire. We are still trying to figure out the quirks.
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