Skoda has started the export of its India based Kushaq LHD from its Chakan plant in Maharashtra. The ŠKODA AUTO Volkswagen India Private Limited (SAVWIPL), which manages the Indian region of the five Volkswagen Group brands – ŠKODA, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini announced that they will be exporting the Made in India Kushaq LHD (Left Hand Drive) as a part of their exports program. The Kushaq is unique in the way of that it is the first-ever locally-built ŠKODA model to be exported from India.
The first customers or the Kushaq will be from the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC) countries. The Kushaq is the third car to start exports from India after the Volkswagen Taigun SUV and the Volkswagen Virtue Sedan which started its export as recently as September.
SAVWIPL launched the export programme of its automobiles in 2011 with 6,256 units of the India-built Volkswagen Vento that were exported to the South African market.
The company has seen its export market exponentially grow to build the Group’s ‘Made-in-India’ presence in 44 countries across South America, Central America, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the AGCC countries, and the Caribbean region. The Group claims to have already exported close to 5.5 lakh cars from India. Mexico is the largest export market for SAVWIPL by numbers, followed by South Africa and Central American countries (Columbia, Ecuador, Argentina), as well as ASEAN countries. The export business forms an essential part of the INDIA 2.0 strategy and enables SAVWIPL to sustainably maintain a healthy production share between domestic and export markets.
Earlier this year, in February, SAVWIPL had begun exporting the Volkswagen Taigun which started the range of vehicles built on the MQB-A0-IN platform.
In terms of development, the group in March 2022, had all reasons to celebrate as they had produced 15,00,000 units in their manufacturing facilities in Pune and Aurangabad, India. The Group has also seen its sales recover very well after the pandemic as it recorded it’s highest-ever H1 sales in India, with 52,700 units sold from January to June 2022. It was observed the first six months of 2022, SAVWIPL’s sales were up 200% year-on-year.
