Skoda Auto will nearly double capacity in India and begin exporting to Bangladesh this year as part of its plan to use India as a regional hub, a company official told Reuters on Wednesday.
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Skoda, fully owned by Volkswagen AG, will also step up investment in India, Imran Hassen, managing director of Skoda Auto India, told the news agency, though he declined to give details.
Reuters noted the company has already invested €100 million ($US132.7 million) in its Aurangabad plant in western Maharashtra state, its only manufacturing facility outside Europe.
Hassen reportedly said the company was looking to nearly double the plant’s capacity from 15,000 units a year now.
Skoda sells eight sedan models in India, including the Octavia Automatic, Rider and Superb. The company sold nearly 8,000 units in 2004, Hassen told Reuters at a news conference to launch the automatic variant of the Rider.
Skoda India will begin exporting its Octavia and Superb models to neighbouring Bangladesh later this year, and is putting in place the necessary infrastructure to export to other countries in south Asia, Hassen told Reuters.
The news agency noted that several foreign auto makers have recently announced plans to step up capacity in India to meet growing demand in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, and use it as a regional export hub.
Hyundai last month said it would build a second plant in India with a capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year, taking Hyundai Motor India’s total capacity to 400,000 units by 2007, Reuters said.
Renault, which last month formed a joint venture with India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. to make the French company’s Logan sedan, reportedly said it may export cars and car parts from India.
And BMW and Volkswagen are considering setting up plants in India, Reuters added.
