One Year On: Ashish Gupta Gave Skoda India Momentum, Harder Task Starts Now

Twelve months is not a long time in the automotive business. Product cycles run for years, investments are measured over decades, and market positions rarely change overnight.

Yet a fair amount has changed at Skoda Auto India over the past year.

The company has recorded its highest-ever sales performance in the country, representing growth of 68.4% in FY26 to 75,555 units from 44,862 in FY25. The Czech company climbed from 11th to seventh position in the passenger vehicle rankings and emerged as Skoda's fourth-largest market globally. For a brand that has spent much of the past decade trying to carve out a larger role in one of the world's most competitive passenger vehicle markets, the shift is notable.

Much of that progress has coincided with Ashish Gupta's first year leading the brand.

When Gupta moved across from Volkswagen India, Skoda was entering a new phase of its India journey. The Kylaq had just arrived, giving the company a foothold in the country's largest SUV segment. For the first time in years, Skoda had a realistic opportunity to move beyond its traditional customer base and enter a volume segment capable of materially increasing its scale.

"It was a switch. Skoda was on the cusp of doing something good, something great, with the launch of the Kylaq. We wanted to make sure that it turned out the way it had been planned," Gupta said.

Kylaq Opens the Door to Scale 

The opportunity was significant because the earlier phase of Skoda's India strategy had produced mixed results.

The Kushaq and Slavia helped restore credibility to the brand. They demonstrated the strengths of the MQB-A0-IN platform, improved localisation levels and brought customers back into Skoda showrooms. But neither fundamentally altered the company's position in the market. While both products earned strong reviews and customer acceptance, Skoda remained a relatively small player in an industry that was expanding rapidly around it.

If the Kushaq and Slavia helped rebuild credibility, the Kylaq brought scale into the conversation.

By entering the sub-four-metre SUV category, Skoda gained access to one of the largest volume pools in the industry. The compact SUV expanded the company's addressable market and introduced a new set of customers to the brand.
The product may prove significant for another reason.

Within the broader Volkswagen Group, the Kylaq is increasingly viewed as an example of how locally developed, highly localised products can be engineered competitively for growth markets. Developed around strict cost targets and local requirements, the SUV has demonstrated that India can contribute more than manufacturing volume. It can contribute product solutions.

That thinking aligns with a broader shift underway inside the organisation.

India’s Growing Strategic Role 

India's importance within the group is increasingly extending beyond manufacturing and exports. The company has been strengthening its engineering footprint and development capabilities in the country as it seeks to localise more of the product development process. The ambition is to make India a larger contributor to future programmes, rather than simply a recipient of products developed elsewhere.

The gains over the past year have reinforced that argument.

India has emerged as Skoda's fourth-largest market globally and is closing in on the top three. "We became number four in the Škoda global markets. I would love to be in the top three markets for Škoda going ahead. That is what we are aspiring for."

The climb is significant not only because of the ranking itself but because it reflects a broader effort to make the brand more relevant to mainstream Indian buyers.

Reaching Beyond Traditional Markets 

For much of its history in the country, Skoda was known for European engineering, driving dynamics and design. Those qualities helped build a loyal customer base but did not necessarily translate into scale. Breaking into the mainstream market required more than a new product.

It required changes across the value chain.

Over the past year, Skoda expanded to 183 cities and 335 touchpoints, widened its service footprint and focused on improving ownership experience. Dealer profitability, customer accessibility and aftersales support became key priorities.

"The biggest issue for Skoda was that we were not available in many parts of the country, which also led to purchase hesitation because you do not have service nearby," Gupta said.

The effort was not limited to network expansion.

"If I look at some of the KPIs across the brand over the last one year, we see growth in all KPIs, whether it is related to brand image, awareness about the brand, the number of customers considering us as a brand, dealer profitability or market coverage," Gupta said.

The company has also improved parts availability, expanded ownership programmes and worked to address concerns around long-term ownership costs, an area where perceptions have historically worked against the brand.

The Next Test : Portfolio Depth

The challenge now is different from the one Skoda faced a year ago. Market access is no longer the primary issue. The next task is portfolio depth.

The updated Kushaq has already begun to show encouraging signs and is helping support volumes. A refreshed Slavia is expected to follow. At the top end of the range, the Kodiaq RS will reinforce the premium and performance credentials that remain central to the brand's identity.

Those products are important, but they are unlikely to be enough on their own.

Compared with larger rivals, Skoda still operates with a relatively narrow portfolio and limited powertrain choice. As competitors expand their presence across petrol, CNG, hybrid and electric vehicle segments, Skoda will need to move more decisively if it wants to participate across a broader share of the market.

The pace of product action will matter as much as the products themselves.

Consumers today expect more frequent updates, new variants and technology upgrades than they did even a few years ago. Rivals have responded by increasing launch cadence and widening their portfolios. Skoda will need to follow a similar path.

Waiting for the new wave of products

The next phase of investment has already been approved by the Volkswagen Group. The industry is now waiting for the next-generation architecture and the products that will emerge from it.

Those products will determine whether Skoda can build on the gains of the past year.

Gupta is conscious of the balancing act ahead.

"How do you make sure that you do not compromise on that premium image and still be relevant by providing affordable or mass-market cars?" That question sits at the centre of Skoda's India strategy today.

A year ago, the company was trying to break into a new league. Today, it finds itself in a stronger position, with record sales, a broader footprint and growing influence within the global organisation.

The next challenge for Gupta is to retain this scale and give confidence to headquarters to reinvest in more local products, faster market interventions and a broader powertrain strategy. Until then, the company will have to rely on a combination of imported products, portfolio refreshes and the continued success of the Kylaq to keep the India growth story moving forward.