Expect Skoda And Volkswagen To Launch New-Gen Mass Market Cars From 2020

The VW Group has tasked Skoda to localise its MQB A0 platform for India, which is expected to spawn a variety of cars including Skoda’s upcoming ECO car lineup, the new Volkswagen Polo, the new Vento (based on the new Polo), and the T-Cross-based compact SUV

Brace yourself for all the latest and upcoming Skoda and Volkswagen cars based on the MQB A0 platform as the VW Group has decided to localise this modular platform for India.Localisation might also be accompanied with some re-engineering of the flexible architecture on which cars like the sixth-gen Polo, the Volkswagen Virtus a.k.a the new Vento, and the upcoming T-Cross compact SUV are based. Skoda’s upcoming ECO family of small cars, that will be positioned in the volume segment, are also expected to be built on the localised MQB A0 platform.

Skoda India will lead the charge in localising the MQB A0 platform for the VW Group. The Czech carmaker has appointed ex-Fiat India CEO, Gurpratap Boparai, who will join as the company’s managing director from April 2, 2018. Boparai’s appointment can be seen as a step in the right direction for Skoda India as his experience in the manufacturing sector will be crucial in localising the modular platform. Before being the CEO of Fiat India, he led the Italian carmaker’s powertrain division. Also Read: Volkswagen T-Cross Compact SUV To Debut in 2018

Under Boparai’s guidance, Skoda plans to launch the first product based on the new platform in 2020. It remains to be seen whether the first car based on the Indian version of the MQB A0 platform will be a Skoda or a Volkswagen. Related: Meet The All-New Sixth-Generation Volkswagen Polo

VW Group was earlier planning to team up with Tata Motors and work on the Indian carmaker’s AMP platform, which is also a modular architecture, as an alternative to localising the MQB A0. But things didn’t work out as expected for either of the carmakers and they didn’t get into any partnership.