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We first ask Klaus Zellmer how he thinks the Skoda brand is positioned with buyers. He says: "I think Skoda is a brand that provides the tools for you to explore the world, explore new territories, all in a safe and functional way. Also, with our new design language, the styling is unique, and we will be the unique face in the crowd. You've seen the Vision 7S Concept, you've also seen the new Kodiaq and Superb moving forward.
"We are a brand for people who don't need to have a statement image. Skoda is more of an understated confidence. If I look at our consumer profiles, we're often favoured by architects, doctors, and it's not because we're good value for money, it's often because people say that we're more introverted than extroverted and because of that we're probably more timeless."
With the new design language shown, we ask Zellmer if it's important for Skoda to still be known as being a value-for-money brand. He explains: "Value for money is in our DNA, we always need to be aware of that because this is where we come from. I would never neglect that, but if you look at the Vision 7S, we've expanded our footprint with that flagship concept. That car will take us into a different position, in terms of branding - but it will still be value for money. That car will provide a lot of size, a lot of functions, a lot of simply clever details both digitally and with its hardware, that Skoda stands for."
We then go on to question Zellmer about how he can manage the 'value for money' tag and keep models affordable as fleet moves to electrification. He says: "The Enyaq is relatively affordable, but you're absolutely right, it's sometimes the elephant in the room. We're very open about it, currently our 'value-for-money car' will be the incoming AO battery electric vehicle, which will be in the market in 2025/2026, with a price around ?25,000. I think that will be 'value for money', like the Fabia that we started selling below ?20,000, simply because we do not have a battery-electric vehicle in that price range.
"On the other hand, we are often talking about this transformation - we don't have to be there tomorrow, we don't have to be there next year, we don't have to be there in three years, we still have time with the technology involved, with scaling effects happening with our cost structures. To then come up with a proposal where the quality, the design, reliability, and everything is then incorporated in an electric car below ?20,000.
"Currently we can't provide the answer for a car below ?20,000. The AO BEV car will be a fantastic value-for-money proposal, but we will still have our Fabia, Scala, or Kamiq. What I'm saying is, many company buyers still want ICE models. So, we see the tipping point as 2026/27, so there's still 50% looking for ICE, because they don't feel comfortable being electrified and for us that simply means we must provide choice - we're putting a lot of effort in to keep all the doors open, with mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid, conventional combustion engine, or battery-electric vehicles.
We ask if, despite the choice in the fleet market, he's concerned by Chinese disruptor EV brands. He says: "In competition you always face risks, but I think that we have such a strong position in the market, we're taking it step by step, and so far, I have not seen a competitor in Europe with a BEV car that I can buy below ?25,000.
"I respect the new Citroen eC3, but that's not what we're after, what I'm talking about is a Fabia, current price starting below ?20,000, that's what I believe we need to cater for. We could come up with a car for ?15,000, and it could be electrified, but that's not what we're after. We're focused on customers looking for an entry-level car that provides the space, the safety, the quality, the comfort, the sustainability, all of these from Skoda."
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Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
