The Enyaq iV, originally supposed to launch in 2024, would have been Skoda’s first electric offering in India. While it has been significantly delayed, Skoda India’s brand director, Petr Janeba, said, “Our first electric SUV is coming by September latest” while speaking to our sister publication, Autocar Professional.
Skoda’s first EV in India: what will it be?
What’s interesting is that Janeba did not confirm if the Enyaq iV, which has been on the cards for India since 2023, will be its first EV here after all. The Enyaq has made a couple of appearances at the Bharat Mobility Show and has also been spied testing on our roads on several occasions. But while the brand was evaluating its EV strategy for India, the Enyaq got a mid-lifecycle update globally, among other developments.
“We now have the Elroq, which is also based on the MEB platform. So, the Elroq, Enyaq and the Enyaq Coupe are three cars based on the same platform. We will take the final call on which of these three will be coming to India after the EV policy from the government is finalised by March 2025,” explained Janeba.
The Elroq, showcased at this year’s Auto Expo, could also be on the cards for India.
The EV policy announced in March last year had proposed a significantly lower customs duty of 15 percent on the import of a certain number of units of electric vehicles (whose cost, insurance and freight value is USD 35,000 or above), provided the carmaker invests at least Rs 4,150 crore and set up an EV manufacturing unit here. Otherwise, the import duty on such cars is 70-100 percent. Under this policy, the companies are also required to attain a certain level of localisation.
The central government is expected to finalise the draft guidelines on the revised EV policy by March 2025 following a meeting with stakeholders.
At 4.49 meters long, the Elroq, revealed in October last year, is slightly smaller than the Enyaq, which measures 4.65 metres. It, too, was showcased to the public at this year’s Auto Expo.
Skoda appears to be waiting to properly assess the EV policy, and whether it’s the Elroq or the Enyaq, they will come as full imports. Meanwhile, the carmaker has already begun development on a localised, India-specific EV platform along with Volkswagen for its future products.
Skoda Kodiaq launch in Q2 2025
In the meantime, Skoda India is also gearing up to introduce the second-gen Kodiaq in India in the second quarter of 2025. “We will begin production of the second-gen Kodiaq by the end of February,” said Janeba. The company will bring the new-gen Kodiaq as completely knocked-down units (CKD) to be assembled locally. The older-generation Kodiaq in its loaded L&K variant is priced at Rs 40.99 lakh (ex-showroom), so expect the new-gen SUV to have a slight premium over this.
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